Pop-up Artisan: Catherine Dinkelmann Ceramics

Catherine Dinkelmann | Be(longing)

Artist Statement

I create intuitively, allowing marks, textures and forms to emerge through the making process. Only later do I recognise echoes of my African upbringing within them, despite having lived in Australia for more than twenty years. The places that shape us never truly leave us. The work has become a way of exploring memory, belonging and faith through clay.

The rough surfaces are carved, etched and printed with layered marks that evoke traces of remembered landscapes and an instinctive language of symbols and lines. Grounded in the colours of red dust, granite, yellow sand and weathered earth, the work celebrates the quiet beauty of natural clay bodies and unglazed surfaces.

Songs playing in the studio become companions in the making. Their lyrics, along with prayers and personal reflections, are inscribed into the clay as quiet records of longing, gratitude, uncertainty, hope and contemplation. Rather than illustrating a single narrative, the vessels gather these experiences into forms that hold both personal and shared memory.

While many of these vessels are glazed internally and fully functional, they are intended to hold something less tangible too: memory, presence, faith, and the unseen threads that connect us to people, place and hope.

As these vessels are formed, I am reminded that I, too, am continually being formed. Clay becomes both material and metaphor—a reminder that we are held and shaped not only by the places we have known, but also by the unseen hands that continue to shape our lives.

About

Catherine Dinkelmann is an Australian ceramic artist whose practice explores memory, belonging and faith through textural, hand-built vessels and sculptural forms. Born in Namibia and raised in South Africa, she migrated to Australia at the age of twenty-one. Her African upbringing continues to inform her intuitive mark-making, surface textures and earthy palette, revealing the enduring influence of place on identity and creative practice.

Although largely self-taught, Catherine continues to develop her ceramics practice through courses, workshops and the guidance of respected ceramic artists and mentors. What began as a creative curiosity for her fortieth birthday quickly became the primary focus of her artistic practice.

Catherine was a finalist in the Local Contemporary Art Prize in 2022 and 2026, with her piece, Held Together, selected as the hero image for the exhibition's promotional campaign. She has exhibited in Sculpture on the Edge (2023), where she also presented an artist talk on assemblage sculpture and has participated in numerous group exhibitions. In 2025, she received the Highly Commended Award at the Brush, Body and Clay exhibition presented by the Sunshine Coast Artists Group.

Alongside her studio practice, Catherine has worked as a graphic designer and previously coordinated community galleries in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as the Laughing Waters Artist Residency Program in Eltham, Victoria.

^{Browse Catherine Dinkelmann's latest projects @catherinedinkelmannceramics}

Catherine Dinkelmann's Be(longing) pop‑up will run from 21 August to 11 October 2026, presented alongside Caloundra Gallery’s upcoming exhibition, Sunshine Coast National Art Prize 2026 Finalist Exhibition. You can visit the pop-up during gallery open hours: Tuesday to Friday, 10am to 4pm, weekends, 10am to 2pm. 

Location	Date and time
Caloundra Regional Gallery	2 July to 16 August 2026