The first thing that is striking about Tika Robinson's entry into Sculpture for Clyde this year, is the scale - it is big. It appears to be a full size woman lying in cobra pose.
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Secondly, she is headless - and where her head should be is a troop of mushrooms sprouting from her neck, that continue down her back and chest, along her outstretched legs to her feet.
It is a stunning work, with an iridescent glaze of browns, blues and earthy greens.
Meeting Tika, what is so striking about her is her age.
For someone who is only 26 years old, it seems remarkable she could be so skilled and accomplished a ceramicist to have created such a piece.
'Personal Growth', as Tika has titled the work, is an accumulation of all the hard work and hours of experimentation with her kiln and glazes over the past five years. She has entered the work into Sculpture for Clyde 2024.
Her first time in the sculpture show, it comes off the back of winning the Bermagui Beach Hotel prize at Sculpture Bermagui in March, where the same work captured the imagination and wonderment of audiences in the indoor gallery.
Tika, when she was fresh out of her fine arts honours year at the University of NSW, purchased a kiln. When most 21 year olds would be buying cars or saving for overseas trips, Tika, who only had a burgeoning interest in ceramics at the time, invested $7000 in the kiln.
"Probably four or five years ago I really just fell in love with ceramics and just delved into the ceramics world," she said.
"I invested in the kiln so early on in my ceramics endeavour, but it just pushed my ceramics so much further.
"It was the most expensive thing I ever bought - it was crazy."
When Tika was a young girl, her farming family from Bungendore decided to diversify from just cattle to truffles. She explained it was an interesting and brave venture for her family, but one that sparked a lifelong interest in mycelia and all things fungi related.
It informed her art practice from a young age and completely permeated her life (she has a dachshund named Mushroom) and work.
"Growing up on a farm in general creates such an affinity with nature - but growing up on a truffle farm...my dad created the farm, you have to get a bit science-y and get into it," Tika said.
"I find it really interesting and it did get me into reading random books about mycelia.
"There is so much knowledge that is unknown about truffles and about fungi, there are things that scientists are only just discovering and I find that very interesting to step into that world a tiny bit."
Tika continues to live on the farm with her family and also has a studio with her kiln in a shed on the property. When she is not working at Water Through Reeds gallery in Bungendore, she spends as much time in her studio as possible, loving the freedom the space provides.
'Personal Growth' is breathtaking in its scale and upon close examination it appears to have been fired as one piece. A testament to Tika's skill, she reveals that it was actually fired in many pieces and put back together.
"She is the piece I have spent the most time on ever, but she's not a full piece," Tika said.
"I created her as a full piece but because I'm limited by the size of my kiln I actually took her apart and joined her back together after the firing and glazing.
"She's about 16 pieces.
"From start to finish I worked on her quite obsessively...I think I got her done in six to seven months, but in that time there was a month here and a month there where she had to sit there and dry."
Sculpture for Clyde opens Saturday, May 25 and runs until Sunday, June 2 2024 along the Batemans Bay foreshore. Visit www.sculptureforclyde.com.au
'Personal Growth' will be exhibited in the indoor marquee. For more information about Tika Robinson visit www.tikarobinson.com.au/home
