PAUL HIGGS' work is a tense and surprising music like, considered balance of complex opposites.  The inert and the frenetic, energy and rest, harmony and dissonance, all find unity in these energetic, playful and joyous compositions. His paintings and mixed media paint constructs are a testament to his commitment to abstraction.
HIGGS' works are a vigorous repartee between colour, line, texture and movement. Peter Pinson describes HIGGS' works as "fields of energetic dynamism. A single work may combine blunt marks, scratches, organic lines, hasty scribbles, [and] testy notations."

HIGGS seeks to maintain the zeitgeist of his work. He is deeply influenced by Be-bop Jazz. The flurry of improvisation and the structured layering of musical elements in Be-bop are reflected in HIGGS' work. The movement in HIGGS' work is sustained and made balanced by an underlying network of strong linear structures, which allow the energy of the work to ebb and flow across the surface.

HIGGS received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the Winchester School of Art, UK. He has taught at the National Art School, Wollongong University, Gymea TAFE, and College of Fine Arts, Sydney. HIGGS has had sixteen solo exhibitions and shown in over thirty group exhibitions. In 1997 HIGGS was awarded the Campbelltown Art Prize after having previously received a residency in Paris at the Art Gallery of New South Wales' studio and the New South Wales Travelling Art Scholarship. He is extensively represented in public collections, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Artbank, The Australian Club, New England Regional Art Museum, Newcastle Regional Art Gallery, Wollongong City Art Gallery, Wollongong University Collection, Campbelltown City Art Gallery, Leeuwin Estate Winery WA and private collections in Australia, the United Kingdom and Norway.

LYNDA DRAPER, MERRAN ESSON and FIONA MURPHY use the medium of ceramics in very different ways.

LYNDA DRAPER creates delicate handbuilt ceramic works which examine experience and memory. DRAPER reinvigorates everyday objects and ideas. She transforms kitsch items into reflective works by stripping them of their colour, context and encouraging the viewer to see renewed beauty. DRAPER is currently doing her Masters of Fine Art at the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales. Since 1986 she has exhibited in nine solo exhibitions and over thirty group exhibitions. In 2006 DRAPER won the Sass & Bide Art Prize and in 2005 she was the winner of D'art, International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza, Italy. DRAPER has received many other awards and grants, including the Gold Coast Ceramic Award in 2002 and 1997. DRAPER's work is represented in many public and private collections, including the International Museum of Ceramics in Italy, The National Gallery of Australia, Shepparton Art Gallery, Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC, FAGrue Collection in Italy, the collection of the Dutch Royal Family, Myer Foundation, Campbelltown City Art Gallery, Gold Coast City Art Gallery and the University of Wollongong.

MERRAN ESSON has been at the forefront of Australian ceramics for many years. Resonances of her native Tumbarumba landscape (Snowy Mountains) appear in her strong strata-like patterns. ESSON creates large and small-scale vessels that evoke sensory responses to the ubiquitous Aussie water tank. The deep, changing greens, and sculpted angular surfaces suggest aged and corroded metal - the metal of water tanks exposed to the weather and the distinct colour of copper found in treasures buried beneath the sea. In 2008 ESSON won the Poyntz Pass Prize in the Shepparton Ceramic Award and in 2006 she was awarded a residency at The National Art School's Paris Studio, at the Cite Des Internationale. In 2005 ESSON won the 24th Gold Coast International Ceramic Award. She is represented in many public and private collections, including Perc Tucker Museum, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Manly Museum and Art Gallery, National Gallery of Australia, Western Australian Art Gallery, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Geelong Art Gallery, Queensland University of Technology, National Art School, Australia Council, University of New South Wales, and Qantas, as well as collections in Germany.

FIONA MURPHY's work is the meeting point between nature and culture. Her organic structures appear to grow and transform into industrial assemblages. In 2007 MURPHY received her Masters in Fine Art from Monash University. Prior to which she had studied at the Melbourne Institute of Education, Phillip Institute of Technology, Victoria College and Box Hill Technical College. MURPHY has had over twenty solo exhibitions and exhibited in many more group exhibitions. MURPHY has received several awards and grants, including the City of Hobart Art Prize (2005). Her work is represented in numerous collections, including Artbank, Australian National Gallery, National Gallery of Victoria, Western Australian Art Gallery, Geelong Art Gallery, Manly Art Gallery, Bathurst Regional Gallery, Art Gallery of South Australia and Art Gallery of Queensland, as well as private collections in Australia, Asia and USA.

From 17 - 20 July Sydney will host the inaugural Australian Ceramics Triennale (formerly the Australian National Ceramics Conference). The Triennale will consist of exhibitions across NSW and culminates in a four day conference at the National Art School, Sydney.

DAVID FAIRBAIRN says "my drawings and paintings are a forensic mapping out of an energy field." FAIRBAIRN creates architectural portraits using bold layers and angular lines. His densely layered works on paper portray the inherent fragility and transient nature of human existence - the shifting layers become markers of time, capturing every movement of the sitter and every mark made by the artist.

FAIRBAIRN describes himself as a "hybrid" - that is he combines printmaking, draughtsmanship and painting. His works begin with a completed print which becomes the underlying structure for the layers of paint he uses to build the work. FAIRBAIRN's intense observations of his sitter imbue his works with a complex understanding of what lies beneath the surface, revealing an uncanny sensibility about the identity of the subject.

One of the sitters in this body of work is Vija Heinrich, who "now in her 70s, immigrated to Australia after World War II and was placed in a quarantined labour camp on arrival' (Prue Gibson, Artist Profile, 2008). FAIRBAIRN believes older people have more to contribute, and so the lines in his works become topographical maps, tracing the history and experiences of his sitter. Gibson writes "Fairbairn's portraits leave the viewer with an abiding sense of impermanence and with an empathetic understanding of the fragility of the human condition" (Artist Profile 2008).

In 2006 FAIRBAIRN won the Calleen Acquisitive Award, Cowra Art Gallery. He has also won Art on The Rocks (2003), the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize (2002) and the Dobell Drawing Prize (1999). Since 1981 FAIRBAIRN has received over forty awards and prizes. FAIRBAIRN teaches at the National Art School, Sydney. He has had over twenty solo exhibitions since 1981 and has been in over seventy group exhibitions. FAIRBAIRN is extensively represented in both public and private collections, including the Doug Moran Art Foundation Collection, AGNSW, Myers Art Foundation, Faber-Castell Drawing Collection, University of New England, University of Western Sydney, NERAM, Wollongong University Collection, State Bank, Latrobe Valley Arts Centre, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Cowra Regional Art Gallery and Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority.