Ludere (to play) // Artist biographies
Caren Elliss
Caren Elliss Design is a furniture design studio based in the Western suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. Catering to hospitality fit-outs, educational institutions, workplaces and domestic spaces across the country, Caren Elliss Design produces a range of furniture options that are all produced by local South Australian fabricators using all Australian Steel.
With a focus on sustainably sourced Australian timbers, Caren Elliss Design represents the very best of independent, ethically produced design from a unique position as a designer – maker with an Industrial Design back ground.
Alison Smiles
Alison Smiles is an Adelaide based artist working predominantly in the area of ceramic based sculpture. A graduate from the University of South Australia, her final semester of her undergraduate degree was spent in the UK at the University of Sunderland in the National Glass Centre.
Following graduation, Alison attended the Jam Factory as an associate in 2012. In the years following, she co-founded an independent group studio with fellow ceramic-based artists, Sophia Phillips and Stephanie James Manttan.as well as attending the Macsabal wood fire symposium in Zibo, China in 2013. She has completed residencies in Korea and Japan (2016 respectively).
In 2018, Alison completed her honours degree at Adelaide Central School of Art, where she explored heteronormative approaches in the medical field and its impacts on the queer body through her own lived experience. This continues to occupy her practice and research. Alison is currently employed as a Lecturer at ACArts delivering undergraduate training in ceramics which is awarded through Flinders University.