My art practice has focused on revealing hidden stories in landscapes.

I am interested in exploring the qualities of a place and attempt to capture a feeling, or an essence of this place within the work I create. I am interested in giving voice to silent histories that are embodied or encased in a place.

I seek inspiration from the rocky outcrops that lay witness to deep time at my favourite south coast destination that form the intertidal zone between wild ocean and estuary, sandwiched between white rounded beaches and rugged cliff faces. These various watery weathered places hold stories within their forms, some will never be known, some may be revealed by natural and cultural interference. I use images that appear fossil like within the body of the works as metaphors for these embodied stories. These images are revealed with light through thin translucent walls, ghost like. Watery glazes hint at the oceans influence and sharp, vulnerable yet resilient edges on the forms provide a delicate yet dangerous feel to the exposed bleached vessels. These qualities speak of the vulnerability, strength and danger of the ocean’s edge.

Kerry-Anne Cousins, Arts reviewer for The Canberra Times commented on the work exhibited at Form Gallery recently,

‘The series of small bowls made in Southern Ice porcelain by Jo Victoria reflect the artist’s interest in the link between her ceramics and the natural environment. Southern ice clay is difficult to handle yet repays the effort by firing to a beautiful, translucent body. Victoria has decorated these white bowls with smudges of grey slip to create images that are delicate and translucent. She has filled others with pooled blue/green glazes which hint of tidal crevices that, for the artist, hold untold narratives of time. One beautiful bowl holds a ghostly image of a fossilized fish. The success of this particular work may suggest fruitful avenues for the artist to develop.’

The Canberra Times Saturday 22nd February 2014 p.20