Fiona Hasler

Fiona is a Swiss-Australian artist based in Sydney. Having grown up in Switzerland, she moved to Brazil in her early 20s and relocated to Sydney in her mid-20s. Fiona has been studying a double degree in Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of New South Wales since her arrival in Australia. In her sculptures and prints she thematises capitalism, social structures, globalisation, identity, taxonomies, feminism, and domestic life. Her creative practice is driven by experimentation and focuses on the importance of materiality and object significance.

9 to 5, Fiona, 2021, ceramics and wood

‘9 to 5’ consists of a porcelain hammer head with generic imprints and a mass-produced wooden handle. The work thematises the intricate relationship between capitalism and the value of labour in times of mass production. The hammer is an object that symbolises paid labour, craftsmanship, and masculinity. By translating the object’s materiality into ceramics, the work questions those ideas. The ceramic hammer takes on feminine notions, alluding to unpaid labour in the domestic setting, while its aesthetics and reliance on mass-produced components challenge the concept of craftsmanship.