Five Minutes with ... Alison Smiles and Yetti and the Kokonut
Alison Smiles, Flasks and Beakers, 2021.
Known for her whimsical and playful ceramic creations, Alison Smiles has teamed up with local winemakers Yetti and the Kokonut as part of Fortified, a celebration of the next generation of producers from the Barossa Valley. We sit down with Alison and Dave (Yetti) to discuss their collaboration ahead of this exciting exhibition.
Photography by Michael Haines.
Can you tell us a bit about your background?
Dave Geyer: I was born and grew up in the Barossa, working vineyards during my high school holidays and diving in full time after school in both winery and vineyard. I got involved in winemaking after spending time in wineries overseas in France, South Africa, the US and New Zealand learning how wine is made differently and naturally!
Alison Smiles: I came to clay after studying visual arts at UniSA. I fell in love with the direct nature of making with clay and I have been making functional ceramics and sculpture ever since. I was an Associate at JamFactory in 2012 and after that, I ran a group studio with Stephanie James-Manttan and Sophia Phillips for four years. I now have my own studio at home and I lecture in ceramics and sculpture at Adelaide College of the Arts. Making with clay and teaching others about this incredible material is central to my practice.
Yetti and the Kokonut is quite the name! What’s the inspiration behind the label?
D: Our label comes out of Koen (co-founder Koen Janssens) and myself getting real drunk one night at a bar and deciding to make wine, legit! We decided on Yetti and the Kokonut as it’s our nicknames in the wine industry, Koen as a sommelier and myself in wineries! All good stories start with drinking 😂
What methods and techniques do you employ in your ceramic work?
A: I use hand building, wheel throwing and also slip casting in my work. I don’t place a hierarchy on any type of making, I like to use whatever technique is appropriate for the job. I use creamy white porcelain and gritty groggy clay, as well as terracotta, but the common theme with most of the work I make is that I love putting a lot of detail on the clay surface with coloured slips or metallic lustres, rather than developing glazes.
Alison Smiles, Flask, 2021.
Alison Smiles, Kokonut, 2021.
Alison Smiles, Yetti, 2021.
Alison Smiles, Flasks and Beakers, 2021.
What do you love most about your respective mediums?
A: I love the direct nature of clay, that an object can be developed simply with my hands, material and time, lots of time!
D: The best thing about wine and winemaking is the freedom of creation you have with every batch, variety, style and that changes every year. You can chop and change and never stop being creative with the wine making processes. The fact you end up with a delicious adult beverage is a an absolute bonus!
How did you approach this collaboration for Fortified?
Y: We caught up with Alison in the middle of vintage at our winery to show her what we are all about. Luckily for us she was able to translate the chaos and insanity of what we do perfectly. Being able to spend that time with her hopefully helped her out rather than hinder, clearly it did as she knocked it out the park!!
A: I was fascinated with their approach to winemaking - letting nature shape the form of the wine, and experimenting with different grapes from different regions in South Australia. The winery is filled with bubbling vats of golden and purply magenta fermenting grapes, a type of earthy laboratory. So I made the laboratory style vessels to sit alongside the characters of David and Koen, Yetti and the Kokonut, which are very rough and gritty but have beautiful shiny platinum lustre running down the sides of the vessels. I hand built all of the forms using coils of clay, slowly pinching and prodding the forms into life. It was a lovely experience developing the work and meeting David
and Koen.
17 July – 10 October 2021
JamFactory at Seppeltsfield
A robust blending of South Australian talent, Fortified celebrates the next generation of producers from the Barossa Valley in collaboration with 12 paired artists and designers. Together they bridge the gap between Adelaide and the Barossa region to create a snapshot of the character, artistry and generosity of the Barossa Valley.
Fortified is showing as part of the SALA (South Australian Living Artists) Festival.