Artists statement

ENIMATIC LAND

OF BIRDS THAT SING
FLOWERS FROMS SEEDS THAT SPRING OF
REPTILES AND FISHES
CREATURES FROM THE BEGINNING
SUN AND MAN AND SCIENCE
THE SYMBOLS
THAT SILENTLY BUILD AND CHANGE
IN COOL AND WARM
YOU ARE THERE AND HERE
OF YESTERDAY
NOW
THE SPLITTING EARTH

MURAL BY JOHN GILBERT 1973

Historical information

John GILBERT (1935- )
Born Albury, New South Wales

John Gilbert worked as a teacher while completing a Certificate of Art at the Technical College in Marlborough, before moving to Ballarat in 1958. He studied at the Ballarat Technical Art School, a division of the Ballarat School of Mines (1960-1961) receiving a Diploma of Art; and Croydon College of Art, London.
Gilbert was a Senior Lecturer at the Ballarat Institute of Advanced Education (now Federation University) Art Department until his retirement in the late 1970s.

In John Gilbert's Mount Helen studio he produced work marked with an incised 'Gilbert'. He had acquired a concern for form and an interest in sculpture from his teacher Neville Bunning, and from the British potter Hans Coper, whom he visited in 1968. He established two potteries in Ballarat , the Edinburgh Pottery (1972-2005) located within the Sovereign Hill precinct, and the Old Ballarat Pottery (1973-1994) located in the Old Ballarat Village opposite Sovereign Hill.

This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 2000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007.

Physical description

A large ceramic mural by John Gilbert commissioned for the wall of the E.J. Barker Library. The mural features brown and green glaze with features of indigo.

The work has no particular pictorial representation. It is an arrangement of colour and form, designed for enjoyment rather than to analyse. The theme relates to the development of the Universe through basic symbols such as plant forms, fish, birds and to mans development through symbols of science and engineering. The outer edge is symbolic of earths crust being peeled away to reveal science and nature. The mural depicts the changing of seasons from Winter to Summer (left to right).

The mural was completed at John Gilbert's Slate Gallery studio, Mount Helen, and took eight months to make.