The portfolio is made up of sections, each showcasing an individual body of work, accessed through the thumbnail links.
Each section contains a series of images, descriptions of the work, and links to relevants notes and essays.
As a preamble, you might like to read Donald's introductory remarks.
To view a page containing thumbnails of the main images in each section, click here.

Video interview with Donald for the CraftWest Centre [Quicktime62 mb].

UNDER THE BRIDGE, 2005
. . . two small, finely crafted, lidded cabinets on tripods standing opposed to each other. Raising the lid on each cabinet reveals and activates a small video panel set into the cabinet body showing a looped video image of moving water; images taken from the center of the famous bridges of Sydney and San Francisco, but with no aspect of the bridge itself or of the surrounding landscape directly in evidence. . . [DF, notes]


PERMUTATIONS, 2003

. . . two works based on the possibilities of the coopered cone. "I saw the spindle form as a platonic ideal underlying forms that were familiar yet not quite everyday. It resembles many things we are familiar with - tools, parts of machines, natural forms such as seeds, pollen, and diatoms - but is also quintessentially geometric and hence abstract." [John Elder Gallery, Press]

EMPTY VESSELS, 2001

" . . . the objects illustrate the potential of non-rectilinear processes such as coopering, stack lamination and lathe-turning. Each of Fortescue's designs features one or more of these seemingly conventional processes . . . a surprising demonstration of a seemingly uniform material's resistance to the predictable geometry of regulated processing . . . the reason his forms are so clean is that he's just not that interested in form per se . . . he is obviously not comfortable with many of the traditional trappings associated with handmade wooden objects - utility, familiarity, the appeal of beautiful timber . . . it reads as a indictment of these values, an embrace of the intellectual dynamics of process instead of sensual appeal." [Glenn Adamson, American Craft]

CORRESPONDENCE, 2001

"Making is an act of remembering, of remaking the world again and again. . . the remembering of past mistakes and successes; the learning and training that modulates every decision and action. Some of this knowledge can be considered as memorised information. . . but for a maker of objects, a great deal is in the body as well as the mind. . . there are the memories of a life lived within the mesh of the real world. The world of sharp edges, soft touches. . . everyone has a rich association matrix of experiences, sensations and memories which informs their appreciation of and reaction to the environment around them. Makers draw on this constantly; it is the well-spring of the 'poetry' of making." [DF, notes]

'AGROUND' 1995

" . . . the body of work that I have created is a 'whole' in the sense that every piece seems to fit in the jigsaw that is me. In many ways, however, it is actually internally contradictory; composed of several streams which occasionally approach each other but which generally flow well apart with one stream containing objects whose design language directly contradicts the critical criteria of another stream . . . stretched membranes, stacking/layering, lightness, the language of materials, explorations of solid geometry. . ." [DF, notes]

EARLY WORK

"I see furniture as sculpture on a human scale for everyday use and appreciation . . . I strive to create pieces which combine a powerful visual presence with a richness of meaning and detail only revealed fully through interaction over time . . . I'm intrigued by the paradox of objects which can stimulate the intellect and stand strongly on their own as 'sculpture' while simultaneously performing essentially mundane services and blending into the domestic or commercial environment." [DF, notes]