Sculpture

My work is made out of high-fired clay.
Soft plastic clay hardens slowly, to be hacked with a hammer, gouged with a knife, and beaten with a rock. Those are my tools.

Pieces are first low fired in an electric kiln. I do not use glazes--like heavy cloth they cover all. Instead I use oxides applied to the bisqued (low-fired) clay. As with a tattoo, oxides permit the surface underneath to breathe—like naked skin.

The work is then high fired in a gas kiln with double reduction to cone 10. The final temperature is 2,300 degrees F. At a certain point oxygen intake is reduced to the kiln. Because the fire has reached a critical mass, it needs oxygen and chemically takes it from the clay and the oxides painted on. Like a jazz improvisation, each kiln load is slightly different.

Much of my work is fired in the gas kiln at Third Avenue Clay, Brooklyn. Many thanks to Adrienne Yourick for her friendship and support.