Ryan Abramowitz

Opening Event

Sunday 17 May, 2–4 pm

Exhibition Dates

Thursday 14 May – Sunday 14 June 2026

This body of work begins at the threshold; transitional and liminal zones of passage. These are sometimes unnoticed spaces and junctures between worlds and places. Between inside and outside. Between the natural and the made. Between ritual and everyday life. Between sea and sky. Between coral and choral. 

In the context of Melbourne Design Week, this exhibition considers the role of the hand in shaping meaning. Earthen echoes that are formed, fired and held in time. They sit between sculpture and function, asking how ritual objects can remain alive, responsive and materially connected to the world from which they come.

The Mezuzah, a parchment scroll bearing the inscription of the Shema prayer marks the home as a holy space.  These are housed in Mezuzah covers which are traditionally affixed to the right doorpost of Jewish homes and mark moments of passage. It is both object and symbol: a reminder of protection, presence and intention as one crosses from one space into another. In this collection, I have returned to the Mezuzah cover as a form shaped not only by tradition, but by the earth itself.

Each piece is hand formed in clay, carrying impressions that echo weathered stone, eroded limestone, shells, leaves and fragments shaped by wind and water over time. The surfaces are intentionally irregular:  textured, pitted, softened as though they have emerged from the ground, weathered by a glacier or carried by tide. Finishes are kept close to the language of the earth: chalk, sand, salt, stone, mineral, biomatter and water. Across all, a luminous shimmer of gold traces the Hebrew letter shin, holding a sense of the sacred within the material.

Alongside these works, the coral reef inspired Chanukah Menorah candelabras extend the conversation into another ecological realm. Where the Mezuzot covers are elemental, the reef forms are abundant, layered and alive - drawing from underwater ecosystems where life gathers, grows and shelters. These ritual objects, too, hold both candles and light, but do so through a language of biodiversity, fragility and interconnection. Two of the sculptures on display experienced rupture and explosion during their bisque-firing in the kiln.  Invoking the traditional Japanese artform of Kintsugi, which repairs broken pottery through bonding agents mixed with powdered fine gold, these fractures are honoured as a metaphor for healing and resilience. Here the gold seams between the cracks imbue a beauty and poetry that embraces brokenness as a part of life and vulnerability as strength. 

Together, the works move between desert and ocean, breakage and repair, erosion and growth. They reflect a deep attention to patterns in nature;  the way surfaces are shaped over time, the way matter carries memory and the way beauty emerges through both pressure and patience. Thresholds: Earthen Echoes is, at its heart, a meditation on passage and on the dialogue between earth, object and human touch.

Opening Hours

Thursday, 14 May 4 – 8pm

Friday, 15 May 12 – 6pm 

Saturday, 16 May 12 – 6pm

Sunday, 17 May 12 – 4pm 

Sunday, 17 May 2 – 4pm Opening Event Celebration

Friday, 22 May 12 – 6pm 

Saturday, 23 May 12 – 4pm 

Sunday, 24 May 12 – 4pm 

Friday, 2 May 1pm – 6pm
Saturday, 30 May 11am – 1pm
Thursday, 4 June 12pm – 3pm
Friday, 5 June 12pm – 6pm
Saturday, 6 June 11am – 4pm
Sunday, 7 June 11am – 4pm
Thursday, 11 June 12pm – 2pm
Saturday, 13 June11am – 4pm
Sunday, 14 June 11am – 4pm