I'd like to keep you updated on my work.. from my working processes and habits all the way through my final installation!Right now I am enrolled in three ceramic studio classes as a BFA at SUNY New Paltz: Ceramic Sculpture, the Glazed Surface, and Materials.
Ceramic Sculpture: Project One: Details of Darwin September 2010
For this project, the assignment was to select a random object and evolve it as to be unrecognizable to the original. Designed to be more of a jumping off point than a basis for conceptional thought, this project was open to pretty much anything you wanted to do! As I looked around for things to begin sketching, I started to think about what objects I come into contact with daily that capture my interest. Almost instantly my mind went straight to the acorn. Everyday on the walk from my car to the studio I notice them under my feet. The sidewalk is lined with oaks on this small stretch of campus and I very much enjoyed seeing this new indicator of seasonal change. As I started to sketch, I also began to really examine the acorn and understand it completely. I most enjoyed the top or cap of the acorn and decided to focus on this part for my project. The acorn cap consists completely of these tiny, pointed, scale like petals that overlap and increase in size from where it meets the seed part to where it would connect to the branch. Each one is independent from the others and can actually be pulled up from the tip. For my project I wanted to focus in on this ability for the scale to pull up, but change and exaggerate them so they would curl instead of break.
After make small attempts to figure out how to go out constructing this I decided to go ahead and start building!
First I rolled out one very large slab and cut into a 10 inch by 30 inch rectangle. I decided to leave the slab whole and cut it when needed so it would fit together seamlessly later. My general working process consisted of rolling out more thin slabs, cutting them into one inch by two or three inch pieces, beveling the edges of these pieces, using water to pull each piece into a curl, puzzling them together on the large slab and attaching!
Ready for Bisque!
So: sometimes things blow up in the kiln. And this time it did! Because of a number of factors- including moisture and fast firing every inch of my giant tile was blown to bits!
And you know you're either crazy or really in love with clay when you can open the kiln and see this and think
"what a beautiful mess!"
Time to rebuild!
This time I've decided to use one of my favorite clays- a very dark chocolate colored cone 6 stoneware.
Also since this is my second time building I can fix all those little problems
and really get my working process down!
Meanwhile...
Ceramic Sculpture: Project Two: Connectivity October 2010
For our second project, we were to look at all the different connections that exist within the world, from physical to imagined. Through my sketches I decided to work will grass seed and the way they connect to the grass itself, and how when that connection is broken there is little to no evidence of that connection whatsoever yet when they are all on the stem, they work so well together that you can't even see the stem at all!
The Plan: to make a wall piece made up of these stylized seed forms to create the presence and feeling of a field of grass with a focus on the connection between the many that make up the whole!
The Process: Since I knew I both needed and wanted tons of forms to work with I decided to use slip casting as my way of making. Slip Casting involves making a plaster mold of your object and then pouring liquid clay or slip into it. After a few minutes the plaster absorbs the water from the slip creating a solidified clay shell on the walls of the mold. After you pour out the excess slip and let it set up a bit more you can then pull your positive clay object out of the mold!
So: first I had to make my objects! I decided to make 30 objects to cast, all of different sizes and shapes and cast them in 13 two part plaster gang molds! The first thing you do when making a mold is to figure out how many parts you're going to need.. (mine were two!). Once you figure that out you bury your object in clay up to that parting line and make a spout so you can pour the slip into it! Then you secure wooden boards around it and mix and pour plaster on top!
13 finished molds!
My slip casting table! I used that blue pitcher and a very small funnel to pour slip into all my molds bar tender style- right down the line! the white bucket on the floor holds the slip while the greenish plastic bin is a "wet box" or "humidity box" ( a seal-able box with plaster in the bottom you keep wet so you can put clay objects into it and keep them wet so you can finish them on your own time!) where I stored all my casts!
First cast!
more!
and more!
and so many more!
The next step was to patch up those holes and clean them up!
To have them able to attach to the wall I created a hole in one of the sides!
Bisqued!
Next up...
Surface and Glazing!
Test! Test! Test!
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