Ceramic Experiments

This post is featuring a number, well, most of the ceramics I've made. I had a brief but productive spurt about 7 years ago. I was mainly interested in experimenting with different textures and finishes, rather than the shapes. I made mainly bowls, a few tea cups, and some non-functional broken egg-shaped pieces.

With the first couple of pieces I was inspired by Lucy Rie's work, especially the pitted surfaces she produced.


I went a bit overboard with the use of copper in the following pieces. I used copper wire and pieces of copper which melted and produced the green tinge in the glaze, but also left the grey metallic flows on the 2nd and 4th pieces.



I was also inspired by Japanese ceramics, particularly bowls for the tea ceremony. These were my attempts to make something comparable.

This piece was an experiment with some existing sculptural work. It was a hair-filled wire cage which I soaked in porcelain slip. The steel wire remained intact (but weak and fragile) and the porcelain created a thin shell (subsequently covered in a white glaze). I also did the same with a small hair doll, but that one broke during one firing. The main reason I've never continued with ceramics is the delays caused by waiting for the work to be fired, and the lack of control (since I don't have my own kiln).


These are the broken eggshell works which I posted awhile back. These were mostly pit fired. I was experimenting with different textures and colours, adding pigments, salts, bits of metal, etc. I was trying to emulate natural textures like rocks that had been worn and weathered by natural processes. These are the only ceramic works I've exhibited, in my solo show Hate and Fear and Envy and Darkness and Pain. The collective title is Population Explosion, with the idea that these are eggs that have hatched some creature.