Rita Kellaway

Rita Kellaway spent her early, formative years in the South Australian outback town of Woomera, surrounded by an arid, treeless desert. The imagery she first encountered there, of ancient geological formations, continues to inspire her.

Using innovative kiln-firing and casting techniques, Rita purposefully experiments with molten glass flow and colour reactions occurring at high temperatures, and cold-working processes applied when the glass has cooled, to imitate a variety of geological processes including sedimentation, metamorphism, extrusion and erosion. Her enigmatic artworks are conversely both fragile and strong, subtle and bold.

Graduating from the University of South Australia in 2019 with a Bachelor Degree in Visual Art (Glass), Rita was also awarded the prestigious Harry P Gill Memorial Award (awarded to most outstanding student in Ceramics, Glass or Jewellery & Metal) and the University Medal.

Since then, she has received numerous accolades including:

Finalist in the 2021 Tom Malone Prize, The Art Gallery of Western Australia
Highly Commended in the 2020 Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize, South Australian Museum
Finalist in the 2020 National Emerging Glass Art Prize, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, New South Wales
Winner of the 2020 Vicki Torr Emerging Artist Prize by the Australian Association of Glass Artists.

Her work is held in private collections, both nationally and internationally.

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Rita Kellaway
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