Adelaide artists Khai Liew and Bruce Nuske have collaborated to present Irrational and Idiosyncratic, a body of seven works inspired by the 19th-century European response to all things oriental, in particular the prevailing Japanese aesthetic that culminated in the cult of beauty, associated with the Aesthetic Movement in England, and its Italian variation, Decadentismo. The exhibition explores the materials of wood and clay, and the resulting dialogue between the two mediums.

One of Australia’s most respected furniture designers, Khai Liew is Adjunct Professor, School of Art, Architecture and Design, University of South Australia. Bruce Nuske is an internationally recognised ceramic artist and alumnus of the University of South Australia. Both artists have a deep and abiding interest in the visual history of the Aesthetic Movement. Although working in very different mediums, they share a similar aesthetic vision and their collaborative output revels in a shared visual language.

Catalogue essay by Prue Venables.