I was determined that I would have at least one large scale plinth piece for my MA show, I had already made a few successful small pieces that had been exhibited in Wales, but had had lots of problems when it came to scaling up. Either because flaws and cracks developed during the firing or that the finish just wasn't of a good enough standard. However by the time I had gotten around to tackling this piece I had pretty much resolved most of these issues and knew what needed to happen to maximise the best outcome. The below piece is a culmination of the trial and error of making and failing and I was really pleased with the final outcome, I am planning to exhibit this piece as part of my MA show and am am also planning a white stoneware piece on a similar scale. process the results
Following on from an earlier idea of a wall piece, and thinking again of using the components of my sculptures in a different way I decided to create a set of ovoids that I would then cut the bottom off and add a flat base to so that when pierced at the back, could be hung on a wall. After initial firing I chose to use a lava glaze with a copper carbonate addition to create a green effect that would work well with the red stoneware. Above is an image of the components after glaze firing. The initial plan was to hang these directly on the gallery wall as a small installation, however I realised that I hadn't made the holes in the back of the pieces correctly, I should have used an inverted keyhole style hole so they could be anchored onto a screw head, I had just made round holes which, given the weight of the pieces would cause them to drop away from the wall at an angle rather than sitting flush. This meant that if I was going to use them I would have to rely on a very strong contact adhesive.
Two things had happened that both had a bearing on the development of this idea. I had seen a stacked form made from bees wax (see below) at an exhibition called 'When Forms Come Alive' that I had visited earlier this year. For more info please head to my write about this here www.weebly.com/editor/main.php#/ I had also seen some interesting stacked, totems at Ceramic Wales made by a ceramic artist called Guy Routledge. (See below) I started to explore ways in which I could stack these forms that would still make them look connected and organic. I was ken to avoid any linear look to these pieces as I was concerned that they may end up looking like the popular beach pebble stacks that pop up everywhere! I began by using a base and rod that I borrowed off Rob my tutor, and experimented with different ways of stacking the circular forms using one central hole and no connecting segments. I did like how this looked, it is the first image below left, but I still felt it was too uniform and rigid, I needed something with more movement. I then experimented with placing the holes off centre to the left or right and then using small rings of clay in between cut at angles to create spaces in between each segment, see middle image below. I liked how this looked but wanted to see if I could further develop the idea by adding on extra segments onto the ovoids in the same way I had connected them when creating a sculpture designed to sit on a flat surface, see image far right and below. I thought that this final version worked really well and discussed this with my tutor and my peers and there was a lot of positive support for its potential. I decided I was going to try and create several versions of these forms using different clay bodies with different clay finishes, some of which I hoped could be used for my MA show. I was keen to see if I could also scale up the work and make a larger floor standing version.
I needed to consider how I would support the pieces and did some research into the best materials to use for the central stand. I concluded that steel rod and tube welded to a steel base would be best and went over to see if I could commission these from our engineering department at UCLAN. After some discussions a plan was agreed and the bases and stands would be fabricated there. I chose different heights of rod with corresponding bases of different diameters, I was confident that due to the weight of the ceramic components these would be sturdy enough not to tip over once assembled. I have been guilty throughout this course of being distracted, as someone with newly diagnosed ADHD I am less harsh on myself when this happens than I have been before. The initial stages of making my pieces is somewhat repetitive and usually I am able to get into a flow state when am making the separate components and it isn't an issue, however there are occasions when this isn't the case and that is when my mind starts to wander and I start looking at different ideas. I think that this is also a very important aspect of how I develop as a maker. It stimulates creativity and new ideas and it also presents me with new technical challenges I have to overcome so I never really see it as a negative, though I do recognise that it should be a part of my development and enhance what I am doing and not just utilised as a throw away whim. I decided to use a template to connect these pieces, they were made initially as three slabs with mitred joins, they were then slipped and scored together and paddled into more elongated rounded forms once enclosed. The forms were then left to firm up until they could be refined and honed using a surform and steel ribs. After the forms were refined they were slipped and scored together, these pieces were made using a red stoneware with a medium coarse texture. I did like they way the pieces looked when they were joined together and I will definitely make more, but would perhaps not choose to use red stoneware as the colour after a high fire isn't particularly nice, it loses the red vibrancy and becomes a dark red that looks a bit like offal! Below is the piece after firing, I chose to use a fuller glaze covering because of the red, this is a tenmoku glaze with a white tin glaze over the top which when combined creates this mottled looking effect on the surface of the clay which I knew would work well on this piece. I then overlayed these glazes with a silicon carbide based lava glaze with a black stain added to create this dark brown bubbling effect on the peaks. Overall I think this is a strong piece of work, however I also recognise that it doesn't necessarily 'fit' with the current body of work I am making. ![]() This piece arose from left over ovoids after completing another sculpture. I rolled out a piece of clay, deliberately leaving the edges uneven in shape but ensuring the overall thickness across the piece was even. I laid out some of the plaster forms on the bench and then dropped the slab of clay on top of the forms so it would follow the hollows and curves of the shapes. Once leather hard I inverted the slab and attached the ovoids to the slab placing them into the hollow that I had formed. I then made holes in the back as I thought this has potential as a wall piece. I got quite a few positive comments about this piece but I wasn't personally sold on it having any merit, I decided to glaze it to see if that would change how I felt about it.
Unfortunately, as you can see below, the glaze did not work as expected and the result was really disappointing. Am not sure I would do it again but it did get me thinking about how I could make work to go on the wall. |
AuthorStella Boothman Archives
August 2024
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