Founded by chance and spontaneity, it was an everyday conversation for co-owner and ceramicist Chela Edmunds that laid the foundation for Guild of Objects, a recently opened Melbourne design store that features handmade ceramics, textiles, and other works by Australian makers. Chela was in the space one day, talking to the previous owner about her desire to relocate her children’s clothing store, when she learned there was one year remaining on the lease. Chela rushed back to her nearby studio to share her crazy idea with fellow ceramicists and studiomates Brooke Thorn and Tao Oudomvilay. Though they’d never talked about opening a store before, the location and space seemed like a natural fit — so they jumped in.
Guild of Objects fills an interesting gap in Melbourne — a store that isn’t quite a gallery, but is far from a gift shop. Each object — handmade by an Australian maker and often one-of-a-kind — has a story behind it, and as Chela showed us around the space, it became clear that she has a wealth of knowledge on this front. Quality materials and an emphasis on craftsmanship are central to each piece — otherwise they wouldn’t be here. The store often hosts workshops (and we’re actually dying to attend the next one, hand-building ceramics with SU fave Leah Jackson), furthering the impression given by the name ‘Guild of Objects’: that the artists, and all who come through the doors, are somehow united in their craft.
As we picked out our favorites in the store, Chela took us on a tour of the space, giving us the low-down on each piece.
A section of the ceramics wall at Guild of Objects. All three shop owners are small-batch potters but Chela actually came to ceramics after five years in the textile industry in New York. In fact, she got her start in ceramics at Choplet, the same Brooklyn studio that launched the careers of people like Natalie Herrera of High Gloss.
“See the blue and white plate in the middle there? That’s by Barbara McIvor. She studied in Japan and has been making ceramics in the years since. Barbara is a great example of an artist who also exhibits; she will give a full collection to a gallery and all her loyal customers who have been buying for years will come and buy 10 of her pieces in one go. She still exhibits, but has always stocked been in gallery shops.” The striped pieces are by Chela for her ceramics brand Takeawei.
“These are also some of my works for Takeawei. These are some of the first ones in this style I played about with. I got an extruder and was experimenting with that. You put clay in the top and pull the handle down and it squeezes it out through the die. I’ve been experimenting with different shapes and dies.”
“This is Jia Jia Ji Chen’s work and it is somewhere between art and function. For example, she makes these maracas by hand-rolling porcelain balls for the inside and then making the outside through slipcasting. Rather than waste the inside of the slip cast from the maracas she pours out the center and turns it into plates. This is the much more functional side of her work. The use of materials is really clever.”
“I have a coffee pourer from Muji; it’s a clear plastic gross one. But these are much more interesting. This reminds me of a reverse juice squeezer in the way the divots have been crafted. It’s by Nomad Object Co. He has a huge studio in Northcote with his partner James and they also teach ceramics from their studio.”
“That’s by Pot Heads ceramics, a range by Kim Jaeger. Pot Heads sometimes exhibit; it’s also nice to have a mix of hand-built and wheel-thrown work in the store. Kim is really interested in how sculpture can be functional; this comes through a lot in Pot Heads.”
“The tea strainer here is by Niamh Minogue. The bases of the pieces have always got a texture, like pin pricks. You’ll never see the bottom, but you’ll know it is there. A lot of Niamh’s works are more exhibition pieces, which bridge the gap between sculpture and function. It’s nice to have objects like these in an environment where people don’t feel intimidated. We get a lot of people who wouldn’t go into a gallery and buy something and feel okay putting a plant in it. I love her stuff too, because you can use it however you want — a planter or a vessel.”
“We have a couple of weavings by Belinda from Alchemy in store, and she also runs workshops here. Alchemy is a Melbourne favourite. She dyes all the wool herself and runs a dyeing workshop here with native plants. She had the plants soaking beforehand and then gave everyone a book on how to do it themselves. They all had these skeins of yarn that she brought and put them in the pots to dye them.”
“These are made by Kirsten Perry through slip casting; they are really different to the way I’ve seen anyone do slip casts, they have this hand touch to them. It makes them so different. The sharp edges seem really hard to achieve through the process.”
“The ceramics on the edge of the table are by Brooke Thorn, one of the owners here at Guild. We all have works in here. She uses a lot of natural colors and double dips. They’re very different to some of less refined trends we are seeing at the moment.”
“These copper spoons are by Kat Relish. It’s pretty crazy, she told me that to put the enamel in them she just puts a blowtorch underneath. It bubbles away and forms the enamel.”
“The teapot on the table by Katia Carletti is pretty wild. It’s almost perfect, but it has enough difference to show that it is hand built. It’s actually so perfect, it’s crazy that it is made by hand. The inside is also glazed, an extra detail you don’t at first notice.”
Tea strainer by Niamh Minogue, mug by Takeawei and plates/bowls by Jessilla Rogers.
“I grew up on a commune, so I’m a sucker for hippy stuff, but I still like it to have something that is quite different. These dream catchers by Mahu are made by hand, with the materials chosen to highlight the central stone. I’m drawn to handcrafted things, weavings and ceramics, but also ones that do something new with the process as well.”
Plant life and jewelry fill out the shop’s offerings.
Thanks Chela for showing us around!
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