User:MenziesML280/sandbox

Gretchen Hillhouse is an Australian visual artist, designer and neuro-associative practitioner.

Her 30 year arts practice spans installations, sculpture, painting, drawing, ceramics and jewellery making. Her earlier work explores the emotional landscapes of human experience, often pushing the boundaries of materials and methods of production while exploring themes of universality, human vulnerability and connection.

Her jewellery, clothing and interior object design business, Gretchen Hillhouse Design investigated the potential of materials like ceramic, rubber and electronic components in combination with more traditionally used jewellery making materials of silver, pearl and semi-precious stones.

Her more recent work brings transpersonal psychology and psychotherapy to the art-making process to create works designed to resonate on distinct psychological levels with target audiences or individuals.

Personal Details

Born: 6 March 1968 (age 52 years) Perth, Western Australia

Education:  University of Tasmania, University of South Australia.

Known for:  Visual Art, Design and Neuro-Associative Art Therapy

Spouse: Daniel Armstrong (m.1996 - divorced 1999)

Children:  Ambriel Armstrong-Hillhouse (born.1993), Zephyr Armstrong- Hillhouse (born 1996)

Parents: Gaynor Ngaroma Bale (mother, dec 2019.) James Matheson Hillhouse (father, dec 2006.)

Relatives: Leisl Hillhouse (sister), Kirsty Hillhouse (sister)

Early life, education:

Hillhouse was born in Perth, Western Australia, the second of 3 daughters of engineering consultant father James Hillhouse and speech pathologist and later sociologist mother Gaynor Hillhouse. Hillhouse’s mother was born in New Zealand of Scottish and Maori descent and her father was born in Australia of Scottish descent.

A sense of adventure was instilled in her during early childhood, as the family moved frequently between remote mining towns and communities in the Asia Pacific, experiencing a range of cultures and environmental conditions including 4 cyclones, 2 bushfires and a flood.

From the time she was very young, Hillhouse’s father took her and her sisters on multi-day hikes which often turned into feats of endurance when they ran out of water or supplies. At 10 years old, Hillhouse’s father took her as his only crew sailing the family’s 18 ft yacht down the coast of North Western Australia from Port Headland to Broome in post-cyclonic winds.

At age 14, Hillhouse was sent to join her older sister at boarding school at Scotch Oakburn College in Launceston Tasmania, before the family relocated to Hobart, Tasmania the following year, where Hillhouse and her younger sister completed their schooling at Fahan School, Hobart, where she became Arts Prefect.

Hillhouse studied Psychology at the University of Tasmania, before studying Fine Art at the University of Tasmania, Centre for the Arts at Hobart. In between years of her undergraduate Fine Art degree, Hillhouse was apprenticed to one of Australia’s most eminent ceramicists, Les Blakebrough -- where she took over the running of his workshop after one year. During another gap year in New Zealand, she completed flight school training and suffered serious injuries when both her parachutes failed to open during a training jump. Hillhouse also studied Glass and Ceramic Design at the University of South Australia, and Gold and Metal Smithing.

Hillhouse credits her education at the Centre for the Arts at Hobart as being central to her creative development, citing lecturer Dr Lorraine Jennings and Professor Fred Levine as teaching her how to ‘really feel and truly think.’ When first starting at the Centre of the Arts, Hillhouse is quoted as saying she “felt like I was coming home. Here finally were others who felt like me, thought like me and were unashamedly interested in looking at things as deeply as I was.’

Her parents’ Christian beliefs shaped their social contribution and community leadership roles, which influenced Hillhouse’s own sense of social justice and responsibility. She was a founding member of the  Feminist Action Group in the late 1980’s and from that time also actively campaigned for the de-criminalisation of consenting adult homosexual activity in Tasmania, which was only legalised in Tasmania in 1997. Hillhouse is a philanthropic contributor to various organisations through her businesses.

Career

Hillhouse began ‘making things’ from an early age. Her remote-living childhood encouraged self-entertainment and the limited access to traditional art materials prompted her to look to the natural environment for raw materials from which she fashioned sculptures, jewellery and two dimensional art works which she continued to make throughout her young life.

After graduating from the Centre for the Arts at Hobart, Hillhouse worked to exhibition and commission, establishing an arts practice which spanned ephemeral installation, small scale and architectural scale sculptures, ceramics and jewellery.

Following the birth of her first son during her final undergraduate year, she supported her family with part-time lecturing and teaching positions in a range of universities and adult education platforms, and again took on varied teaching positions including one at a medium security prison whilst establishing her jewellery, clothing and design object business - Gretchen Hillhouse Design.

Through this business she supplied over 100 stockists around Australia and exported to France and Argentina for 12 years, while contributing to design dialogue through lectures and internships, and was a philanthropic contributor to Opportunity International, supporting micro business loans for single mothers in the world’s poorest countries.

In response to business owners who approached her for mentoring and support, Hillhouse renewed her interest in transpersonal performance psychology and become an accredited Life, Relationship, Business and Success Coach and Master Practitioner of Neuro-Associative Coaching and Neuro-Linguistic Programming with accreditations in MBIT, DISC and arrange of psychometric behavioural tools.

She developed the leadership capacities of business leaders and their teams both in Australia and Asia for 6 years, before combining psychology and aesthetics in her business Art in Architecture - a practice creating artwork and architectural scale design features designed to illicit specific emotional responses.

Awards:

2007

·        Monument Design Award

2006

·        Life In Style Design Award

2005

·        Regional Arts Victoria. Individual Project Grant “Elohim: Investigations of the Luminary.”

2004

·        “Stanthorpe Sculpture Prize.” Stanthorpe Art Gallery. Qld.

·        “Calleen Acquisition Art Award.”Cowra Art Gallery. NSW.

2001

·        “La Trobe University Aquisitive Ceramics Award”

·        “19th National Craft Acquisition Award.” Museum and Art Gallery of the       Northern territory, Darwin. N.T.

·        “Sidney Myer International Ceramics Award.” Gallery 101, Melbourne. Vic.

1999

·        Sidney Myer International Ceramics Award. Third Prize.

·        Latrobe University Merit Award. Aquisitive Award for the

Shepparton Art Gallery, Vic.

·        19th National Craft Acquisition Award. Museum and Art Gallery of the                           Northern territory, Darwin. N.T.

·        Latrobe University Merit Award. Aquisitive Award for the

Shepparton Art Gallery, Vic.

·        South Australian Ceramics Award. Aquisitive Award for the Art Gallery of South Australia.

1995

·        AEDIS Grant. Arts Tasmania New Work Grant

1994

·        Arts Tasmania Professional Development Grant.

1993

·        Walker Ceramic Award. Westpac Gallery, Melbourne, Vic.

1992

·        Potters Society of Tasmania. First Prize. Strickland Gallery, Hobart. Tas.

References

Country Style. November 2010. ‘Breaking the Mould’. Virginia Imhoff. Pg 17-20.

Hamdmade in Melbourne. 2010. A Maker and her Craft.

House and Garden. December 2009 pg 91

House and Garden. June 2008 pg 33'Once upon a time..'

Inside Out Magazine. November 2007.

Home Beautiful Magazine. Sept 2007. Pg.17.

Craft Culture. Issue 12.World Wide Spaces.2006. pg 39 -43. ‘Presence of things: sense, veneer and guise.’ Review by Sue Green.

Monument. 2005 Design Atlas. Issue No.68.Global Warming:2005’s Hot Young Designers. pg 82.

Inside Out magazine. Sept/Oct 2004.pg58

Ceramics Monthly. Nov 2000. ‘Australia’s International Ceramics Exhibition,pg44-46

Art Monthly Australia. June 2000. Number 130. pg 41.

DB Magazine. December 1999. pg47. ‘Gretchen Hillhouse: The Tune of the Seven

Towers’. Review by Anna Yuan.

Object Magazine. April 200. ‘The Secret Life of Objects: recent work of Gretchen Hillhouse’. Review by Dr Clare Bond.

Eyeline 39. Autumn/winter 1999 pg.42-43. ‘Sound and Say: The Pomona Museum

Project, an installation by Gretchen Hillhouse and Dan Armstrong’.

Review by Robyn Daw.

Craft Arts International No. 45 pg94. 1999. ‘The South Australian Ceramics Award’.

Review by Terry Davies.

Pottery in Australia, Volume 38. No.1, March 1999. pg.5.

Pottery in Australia, Volume 34, No. 3, pg37 – 39, 1998. ‘New Voices in Clay. Review by Karen Weiss.

Pottery in Australia, Winter 1995. pg 58-59. ‘A Formal Illusion.’ Review by Clare Bond.

Pottery in Australia, volume 32, No. 2 Winter 1993.

The Age. March 2011. Porcelain Beauty’s Timeless Charm. Gina Morris. Pg 19.

The Age. August 2008. 'Our turn to Shine'. Homes.Pg20 -21.

Castlemaine Mail.. July 2008 'Local Designer to Represent Australia.' pg 12.

The Age. September 29 2007. ‘Furniture Shock – Its Art Too.’

Castlemaine mail. 6 May 2007.Pg 7.’Designer to Feature’.

The Age. 2 May, 2007.Page 15. Sightlines Critical Guide.

Castlemaine Mail.5 February, 2007. Pg 7. Gallery to Host Fashion.

Castlemaine Mail. 19 March, 2007. Pg 10. Castlemaine Designer Acclaimed.

Bendigo Advertiser. 19 February, 2007. Pg12. Show Transforms Gallery.

C.V. Week. January 13, 2005. Edition 7.pg 7. ‘Masters of their Craft’.

Bendigo Advertiser. November 2004. ‘Master at work’.

The Age. May 10,2000. ‘Sidney Myer Fund International Ceramics Award.’

The Country Times. August 26, 2000. pg.5. ‘Pottering About’.

Bendigo Advertiser, May 10, 2000. pg.26. ‘Potter Attracts World Attention.’

Castlemaine Mail. March24, 2000.pg.7. ‘National Award for Local Ceramicist.’

The Guardian, May 12, 1999, pg.6. ‘Coloured view of our world.’

The Local Echo. May 16, 1999, pg.3. ‘Art Channels Start to Flow.’

Riverine Herald. June 7, 1999. pg2. ‘Art Program Gains Momentum.’

The Loddon Times. June 9, 1999, pg.5. ‘Sculpture Channels.’

The Loddon Times. Nov. 10, 1999,pg.5. ‘Sculpture through the Ages.’

Newspaper publications continued…….

The Loddon Times. Nov.3, 1999, pg.2. ‘Serpentine Sculpture Unveiled.’

The Northern Times. June 11, 1999, pg.6. ‘Sculpture Channels.’

The Guardian. July12, 1999. pg.2. ‘Art Workshops Launch.’

Website: www.artinarchitecture.com.au