The Dunedin artist has strived to avoid unnecessary use of the materials, especially given many of them are linked to unethical work conditions and human rights abuses.
They believed perfectly good materials for making ceramics could be found right under our feet in Dunedin, Nicholson said.
"Instead, my practice focuses on what we have available to us — right here — on our whenua, and how we can build and share knowledge about these materials in a way that is respectful of mana whenua and te taiao."
Local uku, kōhatu, sand and ash is incorporated in much of their work.
They won a merit award at the Te Uru Portage Ceramic Awards in Auckland this week, for their ceramic artwork titled Net.
Rooted in ancestral connections to Rakahuri in North Canterbury — once a key food-gathering site for their whānau — Nicholson’s work combines recycled clay and glass, incorporating clay from Rakahuri itself.
Net is a symbol of the lost connection to Nicholson’s ancestral awa and Kai Tahu kai practices.
The supreme award winner at Te Uru Portage Ceramic Awards was Scott Brough, of Heretaunga, with his Four-Sided Bottle which drew inspiration from ancient Japanese and Korean pottery, as well as pre-industrial European and English traditions.
Two other merit awards were presented, to Jamie Jenkins, of Tauranga, for her work titled Stragglers; and Maak Bow, of Auckland, for his collection of sculptural works titled Like Cars Have Faces.
This year, 195 works were submitted to the Portage Ceramic Awards from across the country.
