Charmaine Ball

Charmaine Ball was born in South Africa and moved to Australia in 1981.
She formed a career as a graphic designer, working for a number of advertising agencies, and later as the Art Director of Homes and Living magazine.

In 2016 Ball completed an Advanced Diploma of Visual Art and Craft at North Metropolitan TAFE. Being awarded an Artsource studio in Fremantle four years ago provided a pivotal opportunity to develop her practice. Since 2017 she has exhibited at various galleries in Perth, and her work is represented in collections both public and private.

Ball’s art practice responds to structural elements encountered in the built environment. Architecture and materials provide impetus for response. Spanning sculpture and painting, her work is characterized by an exploration of line, shape and colour. Formal geometric composition is paired with an organic approach that imbues a liveliness to abstract pieces.

FEATURED WORK

2022

Ball’s sculptural practice responds to elements encountered within the
constructed environment. Working with white stoneware clay, her sculptures explore the spatial configuration, weight and tactility of matter. Hand-built sculptures are bisque fired and left chalkily unglazed. Through the manipulation of material, works arrive at an interplay of weight and weightlessness; light and shadow; positive and negative space. Her current work is influenced by the hydria of Ancient Greece – investigating the shape and construction of these traditional water-carrying vessels. In these pieces, Ball explores the traditions of three-dimensional expression, interrogating the space between
functional and sculptural form.