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Collecting Shells

Collecting Shells by Bidyadanga artist Jessica Jadai (JR) is inspired by her deep connection to the coastline around her home. Walking the beach is part of JR’s rhythm of daily life, a quiet, grounding practice of noticing and collecting.

“When I go out to the beach, I like collecting shells to get my mind off things,” she says. “Anything I see that catches my eye, I just pick it up and put it in my pocket.”

These shell-shaped vessels celebrate that process of gathering and remembering, bringing the calm and beauty of the shoreline into this body of work. Hand built from white raku clay using the pinch pot technique, the works are saggar fired using seaweed collected by the artist and other combustibles. This firing method creates works with coloured surfaces that change across each form in experimental mark making.

Grounded in connection to Country and community, Collecting Shells reflects Jadai’s love of making meaningful things by hand. Each form carries the textures of the coast; soft curves, organic lines, and natural variations that mirror the individuality of the shells that inspire them.

This exhibition marks one of JR’s first forays into ceramics, developed through lessons at the local school and supported by the Bidyadanga Artists community. Learning to shape and glaze clay has opened new creative pathways, complementing her established practice as a painter.