The Space of Emptiness
Yoko Ozawa, Owen Rye, Lindy McSwan
The romantic concept of the sublime evokes the awe-inspiring effect of erupting volcanoes, raging waterfalls and towering mountain ranges. Majestic and overwhelming, the experience of the sublime occurs when the earth’s untamed elemental forces confront our sense of mortality. The forces which shaped the earth can also be experienced on a more intimate scale, harnessed as creative tools by artists who reproduce their effects through surfaces and forms.
The Space of Emptiness presents the work of Yoko Ozawa, Owen Rye and Lindy McSwan who each offer opportunities for quiet reflection on the sublime forces of nature. Through their work each artist vividly expresses a sense of the ancient processes of creation as well as the erosion and decay which inevitably follows. Presenting collections of vessels from each artist, The Space of Emptiness invites consideration of these phenomena, but also the potent space of emptiness they enclose and evoke.
Yoko Ozawa, 'Kogarashi - The first cold wind blew in' 2021, stoneware, porcelain and glaze. Dimensions variable. Photographer: Bryony Nainby
The Space of Emptiness (installation view), Craft Victoria. Photographer: Bryony Nainby

Owen Rye, ‘Vessels’ 2019. Photographer Andrew Northover, The View From Here.
Owen Rye, ‘Vessels’ 2019. Photographer Andrew Northover, The View From Here.
Lindy McSwan, 'Vessel Studies - Corrugated' 2020. Corrugated cardboard, pigments made from rust, quartz and charcoal, beeswax. Dimensions variable. Photographer: Bryony Nainby
Lindy McSwan 'Of Dust and Rust' 2018 - 2019. Mild steel, found steel objects. Photographer Andrew Barcham
Lindy McSwan 'Of Dust and Rust' 2018 - 2019. Mild steel, found steel object. Photographer Andrew Barcham
Yoko Ozawa, 'Kogarashi - The first cold wind blew in' 2021, stoneware, porcelain and glaze. Dimensions variable. Photographer Fred Kroh.
Curator: Bryony Nainby
Presented at Craft Victoria, 2021