ceramics
raku | glazed pots | masks | sculpture
raku
“Enjoyment of Freedom”
Raku was developed in Japan in the 1500s to create ceremonial tea bowls for the Zen Buddhist masters. It is practiced all over the world and enjoyed for its natural, organic process, and spontaneous surfaces. I truly love the improvisational dance I experience with raku.
A dramatic low-fired process where the clay pieces are heated up to 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit in a kiln. Then, they are taken out red hot and placed into combustible materials as a reduction to add black to the areas of the piece that are not glazed or coated with a resist. This also allows the glaze to crackle as does placing it into water. The pieces can be placed into a fermented flour mixture called Obvara (from Eastern Europe) to create a beautiful organic brown surface. It can also be etched with horsehair while still hot to make fine black line designs.
glazed pots
“Earth pots”
My glazed pots are hand-built to obtain crusty, primitive, textured, gnarly, and weathered-looking surfaces. I use colored clay, stains, underglazes, slips, and mat glazes that are dipped, dripped, and/or wiped on and off. The clay is uneven scraps of ripped, etched, carved and thrown slabs.
I use some of these pots for growing cactus and succulents as though they are growing right out of the earth. Hence the name, “Earth pots.”
masks
The clay mask series called, “Faced,” represent the truth and symbolism of wearing masks, making a difficult separation between us and all other living creatures for our own health.
My clay masks are disturbing abstract concoctions that represent living with the coronavirus pandemic since February 2020.
sculpture
The small 2020 abstract sculpture series called “Breaking” take the masks deeper. They represent the massive, heavy, energetic break down of our societal systems that are no longer working for us collectively. This decay will usher in a new creation of glowing, lighter, expansive energy at a higher vibration with smaller, more inclusive communal systems containing to develop to repair & heal our history. My experience practicing & teaching kundalini yoga, an ancient, powerful, energetic technology, directly influences the ideas behind these sculptures. More to come.