2014-2016

2013-2016

[summary]

In order to progress my methodology in creating ceramics, I adapted a synthesis of coil building - the modelling method I began practicing during my pursuit of Master’s Program in Art and Design in Japan - and the method of decorating ceramics at Bien Hoa ceramics producing area in the South of Vietnam.

Coil building is a “primitive method of forming pots by coiling long rolls of clay until the desired shape had been attained, after which inside and outside are smoothed by being scraped and smeared. The method was used to make pots of extremely large size, and it is still sometimes employed today by makers of studio pottery”. (George Savage・Harold Newman (2000) An Illustrated Dictionary of Ceramics, p.81).

By adapting the coil building method, it is possible to translate an imagination into a real clay sculpture at one time (without the repetition of any step within the modelling process like the molding/casting method). It is similar to holding a brush to start a painting. When the painting is accomplished, the creating process is done. Therefore, it is also a suitable option for modelling my botanic motifs which might appear more real in an ‘organic shape’. Additionally, in the rigid world of ceramics that requires also scientific knowledge (such as the firing or the chemical reaction between clay and glaze) besides dexterity and creativity, coil building brings total freedom in the modelling process.

In a traditional glazing method of Bien Hoa ceramics in Southern Vietnam, a carved line is used to prevent different glazes from overlapping with each other. On rough and complex-surfaced sculptures, it’s so risky to carve into the body at any angle that I took the initiative to scale intended glazed surface down to glazed dots; thus, the carved contour of each glazing area becomes unnecessary. I primitively adapted this pointillism method on the artwork Transiency (2014). It was my intent to illustrate the blossoming cherry’s petals fallen on the stream that provoked a pitiful feeling on me while I was doing the annual cherry blossom viewing in Kyoto, Japan. Pointillism was developed in the nineteenth century by Georges Seurat and Paul Signac, branching from Impressionism. It is a technique of oil painting in which small, distinct dots of colors are applied in patterns to form an image. On Transiency sculpture, the stippled glazing dots created a softly rough surface after firing. Technically, this advanced scale of surface down to dots adapted the shrinkage effect which is a flaw of inadequate bond between ware surface and coated glaze. Crawling was named for the condition that molten glaze withdraws into ‘islands’ leaving bare clay patches; in severe cases the glaze forms beads. Since the mechanism of this bond is considered a physical contact, the roughness of ware surface combined with the hardness of glaze determines its ability to be smoothly coated. If very fine-particles in the materials exist, higher shrinkage during firing will occur. 

Viewing my ceramic sculptures from a distance, only colored forms might be seen. The closer we come, the more obviously the color glazed dots appear. And this optical illusion helps to create the feeling that the artwork is animated.