Silence thrown
A renowned Australian ceramic artist prefers group dynamics when exhibiting her graceful works, writes Rosemary Sorensen.
07may05

http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,15189095%255E7642,00.html

There's another intriguing influence, maybe, that a viewer can contemplate in the presence of Hanssen Pigott's works, an even longer-running interest in the teachings of guru Prem Rawat.

"He's been my teacher for 31 years," the artist says, "and I guess it's a part of my art. Your art has to express your life in some way."

Prem Rawat, born in India, speaks to millions of people worldwide (he can be seen on Briz 31 in a segment called Voice of Peace. Hanssen Pigott says she first heard about him from a student when she was travelling in France, when the guru was just 14 years old and already well-known.

Her own philosophy is based on a desire to find "the silence within".

Once, when she was working in France, someone observing her said that he was surprised at how such a chaotic person could create such quiet work.

"I told him, art isn't about me. It's about what I want to be," Hanssen Pigott says. "And I don't try too hard. If you try too hard, it doesn't work.

"When I put these things together I have to be in a state of neutral. It's nothing to do with designing. It's to do with allowing it to be silent."