Breaking the
Mold, Including Stretched Plates
With this most recent collection of pieces, I sought to work against
the strict control and aesthetic that my work has been following for the
past years. This was not easy, especially because I wish my work to be
utilized, used and enjoyed, by other people. So, while relying on many of
my past techniques of hand-building plates with the wooden forms that I
carve, and continuing to mix my own glazes, oxides, and slips, I decided
to utilize them such a way that reflected my sense of the chaotic
processes of the kiln-firing itself.
It is true that one never knows exactly
what will happen when a ceramic piece is cooked at around 1400-2300
degrees Fahrenheit for 20 hours; but one can utilize methods that will
increase the probability that one will achieve desired results. And while
improvisation is an element of almost every process, it was not one that I
had not fully incorporated into my ceramic work, and still haven’t. With
many of these new pieces, I’m attempting to use that tension of working
against the more strict notions of an aesthetic that I had in the
past, and produce something more unplanned, fully unrepeatable, and
singular in itself.
Prototypical of this process are the
“stretched plates”. I utilize a method innovated by
master ceramicist Ryoji Koie, which involves throwing a cylinder on
the wheel, cutting it down one side, then unrolling it into a flattened
plate which retains much of the circular motion and energy of a
wheel-thrown vessel. Also, this is an interesting process because it
allows the clay to express its own tendencies: once the clay is thrown in
a cylinder, then unrolled, it will curl back up somewhat when drying and
firing because it remembers the shape that it was first formed into.
Coupling this process with the chaotic and unrepeatable patterns of black
and white slip seemed especially appropriate as expressions of the
unpredictable. (AJ Collins December 2005)
Please use the following links to view other
pieces of functional ceramic art and pottery by AJ Collins at Ariki Art
Online Galleries
Pottery |
Ceramic bowls |
Ceramic plates |
Ceramic Boxes |
Ceramic Serving Platters
|
