Last Critique at IUS has Come and Gone

What a whirlwind of a week. This was truly one of my more emotional set up and take downs of a my work.

The week started off with a soda firing that fired off pretty evenly. Kade and I played around with how to introduce the soda solution because of the different amounts each of us wanted to introduce into the kiln. I bricked up the door so that there would be a two brick opening for Kade to spray their sculpture directly with the soda solution. I think it worked out. There was still a good soak of soda throughout the rest of the kiln, but most of it was concentrated at Kade’s piece near the flue. This firing revealed how easily the terra sig thickness can affect the surface of the pots. The colors ranged from oranges to reds and blacks depending on layers and specific gravity. General running theory atm is that the thicker the layering and higher the specific gravity, the darker the colors. However, I also question the re-oxidation temperature because this color differential also spanned the different levels of the kiln. The lower in the kiln, where the atmosphere is less oxygen rich, the darker the colors. More testing will be needed. This also gives me a theory that these t-sigs could be a nice insight into the atmosphere of the kiln in different areas.

I quickly turned around and was able to whip out a cone 6 firing with Lilly. The tea set was overall successful. However, the teapot body should have been slight taller given the spout size and placement. The clay body color was a success and I am confident to not rely on Endicott Clay to give myself a nice red background. Definitely will chase this clay body further during the summer. The bus stops survived their once fire adventure and were a great start to this new body of exploration. My mind is playing around with different jar vessels that they could sit upon. Currently, I am really interested in the simple designs that really boil a bus stop to the essential parts. I’m also contemplating the question “why clay.” A current thought that needs more time is making these vessels out of porcelain and leaning into the blue on white decoration. Relating the commodification of porcelain to the west with the adoption industry of China (adoption is expensive and someone is profiting, especially with the state of some orphanages).

I’m really proud of our post-bacc / bfa cohort with how we were all able to transform the space. Kade and Max went to town in the spacelab with their installations. A huge congrats to Kade for pulling off the large sculpture and for creating a dynamic caving experience. Max’s vessels/pots keep improving all the time, with each new kiln load they are honing in on an exciting body of work. Hailey’s busts were stunning and truly impressive for someone who just started their clay journey. Also I am excited by their play with color—finally tackling that larger question of surface. Molly, Lilly, Sarah, Jooby, and I were able to really morph the main studio to what we needed it to be, a tiny little gallery. Molly’s sculptures are progressing at an impressive rate and her recent exploration of found object stands is starting to push her conceptual basis. Lilly’s columns have truly come into their own and her idea of constantly reiterating and not letting the glaze firing be the last step will serve her well during her residency. Sarah’s sculpture is a testament to her construction skills and the attention to detail she has. As Brian stated “your imagery just leaped into 3D without a hitch.” Lastly, Jooby’s studio install showed the range of exploration they played with this semester. There multiple ideas that they can start playing with this summer. A huge congratulation to this cohort! I’ll miss you all dearly.

And with that, the semester ended. This install was hard to take down because it marked the end of my time here at IUS. A huge thank you to everyone that has helped me over these past two years. I am leaving this program a better artist and person. And with that, this is the final blog-post.