LACHLAN MACKEE | ‘Galaxy Sipper’ | 2025 | Wheel-thrown Stoneware / Wood-fired in Anagama kiln/ Bali 86hrs

Community, Collaboration & Contemplation. These are the three threads drawn upon by studio potter Lachlan MacKee in producing this body of work for the NorthSite gallery, and in the process, providing a glimpse of the unique and intimate world of wood-firing potters.

The community of those who fire with wood in North Queensland is small. With only three kilns & four artists, including Lachlan, who in the early stages of his career and is a passionate potter helping move this regional tradition going since the 1970s into the contemporary Australian art scene. Lachlan is mentored by the master potters in his community, including through the ‘Foster A Potter’ apprenticeship program that helped support mentorship from Len Cook of Paluma, one of the most experienced Anagama firing potters in Australia.

This collaboration of student and master, wood into fire and effort vs reward culminated with a 100-hour firing in June 2025 of Len Cook’s gargantuan Anagama kiln in the highlands of Paluma, North of Townsville. The kiln spans over six meters and holds around 700 pieces. The wood-firing process is labour-intensive and dangerous. A team of three fired the kiln for 100 straight hours in shifts, constantly feeding pine, black wattle and shea oak wood to a blinding temperature of 1300 degrees. As the kiln belched smoke from the chimney, each stoke revealed slowly moving flame dancing around the pots inside. Forever scaring their surfaces and depositing ash as a natural melting glaze. It is this process, the ancient way in which pottery was first made births truly one-of-a-kind pieces. The collaboration between potter and kiln during this process is the only way to achieve these unique results.

When designing new vessels, each form is considered from a functional standpoint. All work produced in the Service Ceramics studio are for use. Either to enhance spaces within the home, hold objects, display blooms or simply capture light. Drinkware used in daily morning rituals, as centrepieces for communal dining or to share a slow drink during deep conversation. The core component of each object's function is contemplation. During the making process, Lachlan chooses to leave evidence of the object's creation. His impact on the malleable surface of clay. Each piece will show throwing marks, tool lines, brush strokes or the maker's fingerprint and mark. The end goal of each piece is that these tiny connections are experienced, touched, and contemplated along with the unique surface of each object. Acting as a touchpoint for a moment of mindfulness. These are objects created by hand, as individual as the maker and those who use them.

Lachlan MacKee is a production studio potter based in Cairns, North Queensland. He produces objects for use within the home, such as drinking vessels & interior design-focused pieces. While making, he aims to strike a balance between looseness of form and contrasting mark making. Each piece shows evidence of the making process through throwing lines, tool marks or the touch of the potter's hand, helping connect maker to end user. He is an avid wood firer and is mentored by the small but tight-knit community of North Queensland wood-firing potters. He spent the majority of 2024 studying production pottery and wood-firing techniques at Golden Bridge Pottery in southern India. The skills passed on during this time allowed Lachlan to transition from a sixteen-year career as a Police detective to that of a working artist. Service Ceramics was established to continue to impact the community, only now with the objects he makes.

‘Be Of Service’

Lachlan MacKee

LACHLAN MACKEE | ‘Galaxy Sipper’ | 2025 | Wheel-thrown Stoneware / Wood-fired in Anagama kiln/ Bali 86hrs | H 90 x W 90 mm

*Wood-fired in Anagama kiln, Bali 8hrs, no glaze, wheel thrown and altered.