2024 Muswellbrook Art Prize

The UTE

Christian Bonett

The UTE, 2023 glazed earthenware with lustre 11 x 15 x 38 cm

The Ute is symbolic of an occa Australian bloke and often tied to outdated ideas of masculine identity and class. As a wonky ceramic form, the Ute acts as a metaphor for the male body and psyche; a solid-looking sculpture with a shiny finish representing bravado, yet the material fragility of clay emphasises the complex and contradictory nature of the male condition.