About Me
Details
CV and CAREER. 2020
Merran Esson is an Australian artist who has been making works of art using clay for over 40 years. Her artworks express the contrast between the extremes of country and city. Influences from her rural childhood combine with the urban confines of city life to produce large objects connecting in ways that explore mutual survival. Objects in outdoor spaces have for many years interested Esson, sitting as reminders of water tanks, silos and trees in the Australian rural landscape. Merran Esson investigates a range of cultural influences, reminding us of the influence of history and place.
Merran Esson holds a Master of Art Degree from Monash University (2004).
AWARDS
In 2019 she was the winner of the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize and the Muswellbrook Art Prize in Ceramics. Also receiving Highly Commended in the Georges River Art Prize.
Her other awards include: Highly Commended in The Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize (2014), Poyntzpass Pioneer Ceramic Award (2008), National Art School Studio Residency at The Cite Internationale des Arts Paris (2006), Nava Marketing Grant (2006), Gold Coast Ceramic Award (2005), Port Hacking Ceramic Award (2000), and The Austceram Award (1994),
Esson has been a finalist in the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize (2014,2017, 2019), Sculpture by the Sea (2016), Sculpture in Scenic World (2017,2018, 2019), Sculpture in the Valley (2017), The University of Western Sydney Sculpture Award (2018), Blacktown Art Prize (2018,2019) and the Ravenswood Women’s Art Prize (2018, 2019).
She has work in the collections of Argentona Ceramics Museum, Spain, Museum für Kunsthandwerk und Gewerbe in Hamburg, the Westerwalld Keramik Museum, Hohr-Grenzhausen, Koblenz, Germany, National Taiwan University of Arts, Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taiwan, National Gallery of Australia, Art Galleries of South Australia and Western Australia, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Bathurst Art Gallery, Muswellbrook Shire Art Collection, Woollahra Council and numerous galleries and museums in Australia.
Merran has exhibited in The Victoria and Albert Museum London, Galerie Rosenhauer in Germany, Gaffer Gallery in Hong Kong, also in Korea, Taiwan, Sweden, Pakistan, Spain, Japan and numerous galleries in Australia. She has been a visiting artist in China, Korea, Scotland, Sweden, Taiwan, Japan, Spain and Pakistan.
Merran has extensive teaching experience, including Kambala Girls School (1978-81), various TAFE colleges, University of NSW Art and Design, National Art School Sydney, Glasgow School of Art, Duncan of Jorganstone College of Art Dundee and Edinburgh College of Art (1993-94); She has recently retired as the Head of Ceramics at The National Art School in Sydney, and was Lecturer in Ceramics at the Australian Catholic University (2019).
She is a member of the International Academy of Ceramics, Geneva.
Merran is represented by Stella Downer Fine Art in Sydney,