Light Sculpture

Following are the photographs of my recent exploration with translucent porcelain and lighting. I am hoping to move more towards the sculptural vein and less towards decorative lighting in future projects. The pictures are arranged from the first steps of exploration to the most recent.

Photographs

Here are Photographs of my recent work, dealing with multiples and regarding the pressures of time. The sculpture is untitled as of now. Suggestions are welcome!

To Close the Book on Fall 2009

The semester ended in a whirlwind of work to complete, without enough time. The story of my life. After a four our studio clean up with the majority of our studio members and professors, we enjoyed a potluck dinner with our graduates, currents students and newly accepted BFA students. We had a wonderful time revealing secret santas and eating great food out of handmade ceramic dishes.

Returning the 17th I was met with our familiar Janitor who commented, "you just can't keep away huh?" and flashed a smile. I spent the evening cleaning my studio space and preparing it for a month of absence. I then proceeded to photograph the work I had completed since the midterm point. It consisted of two different bodies: The first, a theme/concept I feel will be developed towards my thesis show, and the second, and experiment with translucent porcelain to create Light. I am hoping to develop both bodies together, in an effort to present a nostalgic narrative of time passed.

The following post will show Photographs of the ceramic work completed in my last half of the Fall 2009 semester

Photos from Octobers Anagama Firing!

Here is a small insight into the process of anagama firing!

Begining with a full view of the Anagama Kiln with its door bricked up, I then added a view showing the stooking hole and fire pit! I added subsequent pictures to show a small portion of the firing process in which we toss the wood ash to create a large part of the desired effects of a wood firing. The pots are not visible due to the brightness of the flame in the last photograph - but at this point every pot was a glowing white!

A Weekend's Work

I started off with somewhat of an early morning, arriving at the studio with a large coffee and egg sandwich. Before departing last night (friday November 13) I began candling our small Bailey's gas kiln. For 3-5 hours I kept only the pilot lights burning, set to soak at 200 deg. F, with a gradual increase to 500 deg. F. Before leaving at 12am I turned both burners on, setting it to soak at 1,000 deg. F. [setting the gas kiln to "soak" is a safeguard, the burners will shut off automatically when the target temperature is reached, and kick back in when it drops below temperature]

When I came in this morning the kiln was at 1,006 deg. F. I set our ultimate target temperature of 2350 deg. F, which is cone 10. At about 1:00pm I began a body reduction, and continued it through cone 010-04. When reducing a kiln, you are basically diminishing the oxygen supply. When cone 04 dropped I set the kiln to a neutral environment, indicated by a green flame - which is neither a reduction or oxidation atmosphere. I fired the kiln in this neutral atmosphere for about 5 more hours, checking every half hour to record the temperature climb and check the cone packs, as well as making sure the atmosphere was unchanged. When cone nine was going down (at about 2280 deg F) I began the glaze reducation, once again cutting off the oxygen supply. It is somewhat difficult to maintain a true reduction while reaching temperature at this point; because of the lack of oxygen, the temperature can stall, or drop all together. There is quite a bit of tinkering that one must do, including adjusting the damper, air flaps, fan speed, and gas pressure. I allowed the kiln to fire in reduction for a bit more than a half hour, and after cone 10 dropped (at 2300 according to the pyrometer, which is not exact), brought the kiln into a short oxidation period to encourage the development of bright colors in certain glazes, and finally shut off the power and gas at 7:00 pm.

While Firing the kiln, I was working on several different projects. I began by unloading a bisque kiln of student work. I am the teachers assistant of a ceramic handbuilding class, and one of my responsibilities - apart from mixing materials, creating handouts, preparing demos, and advising students on process and concept, - is loading, firing and unloading class work. Once finished I headed to the plaster room to check on one of the two molds I poured the night before. [For my next project I will be casting three different clock forms and creating a sculpture to communicate the pressures of time.] I destructed the coddle boards, and lifted the press mold from the clock and clay slab, with a good amount of difficulty due to the size of the clock and consequently the plaster mold. Once the prototype was removed, I washed the excess clay and mold soap away, and set the mold to dry in front of a fan.

Moving on to my next project, I wedged two large portions of porcelain, and set them through the slab roller, rolling each to a thickness of 1/8 of an inch. Using a set of templates I created a few weeks ago, I set up the parts for two light boxes. While I was letting the slabs set-up, I added some finishing touches to two other light boxes, and prepared a third (which I had unloaded from the bisque kiln) for glazing. The weather slowed the drying of my slabs and I left them covered in plastic on a plaster board to dry gradually overnight.

Tomorrow I will begin to cast providing my molds are dry enough, and I will construct the light boxes. Once they are slightly beyond the leather hard state I will begin to carve organic patterns with varying textures, allowing for differing degrees of thickness to play with the appearance of the light shining through. I will begin several different glazes tests for these pieces as well.

The gas kiln won't be cool enough to open for about 2 to three days from now, but I will report back with news of its success!

Gallery Visits

This weekend I attended an opening at the Suprenant Gallery in Kingston NY. I had to force myself around the crowded space to view the art work before I had to escape the confines of the space to breath openly and relax. I would be interested in revisiting the space to have a chance to enjoy the artwork instead of feeling it was a stressful burden.

Catching Up

The semester is at whirlwind point. Everywhere I look is something new I have to do.

I have been working in the ceramics studio with translucent porcelain. I am experimenting with carving porcelain to create interactions between light and sculpture. I will begin experimenting with translucent porcelain slip cast objects, intended to be decorative (more so than functional - in terms of bright lighting) light fixtures. I will begin experimenting with high fire mason stains to color the porcelain. I am hoping to create varying levels of thickness through several different methods. Firstly I will use a simpler method of layering the slips and carving the areas that I would like to show more light. I will get more intricate when I begin coloring the porcelain casting slip itself and layering it the varied thickness I am looking for, displaying different colors.

I am bogged down by other projects that are part of my studies at SUNY New Paltz, as well as extra curricular activities. I am working as a ceramic representative for our department to organize and fund the upcoming ceramic conference NCECA. I am organizing the development of a recently founded Art Therapy Club.

The Wood firing was a great success! I will be posting pictures of the experience and amazing results!