Ceramics Art + Perception #109

“… although I can envision … what I think will occur in the kiln, it is impossible to see inside it, therefore I must strive beyond to find what I am seeking. Yohen (unpredictable change) occurs within the limit of the clay, the communication between me and the kiln, and the collaboration of the pots and flame within. When Yohen occurs naturally within the anagama.
— Ken Matsuzaki: Looking for Shapes the Clay Deserves by Jack Troy

New works in the show were unfired because her kiln isn’t working; she treated that not as a limitation but as an opportunity to be playful.
— Marie Woo Clay Odyssey: A Retrospective at Birmingham Bloomfield Art Centre by Janet Koplos

It sounds almost intolerably corny, and indeed I cringe even as my fingers press the keys, but Clay Gulgong 2016 was, truly, a week that changed my life.
— Clay Gulgong 2018 by Henrietta Farrelly-Barnett

Writing on my own skin made me feel like I had to be completely honest even though much of it was a doodle. Feeling all of this led me to make the piece.
— Tip Toland writes about her work.

Cochiti Pueblo historic clay figures were destroyed by the invaders largely due to accusations of witchcraft and sorcery. These clay figures provided social commentary in a world inundated by the arrival
of the railroads and an influx of “foreigners” to the region.
— Virgil Ortiz writes about his work.

At the end of my conversation with one of the five Italian jurors, when I pressed about the disproportionate number of Italians in the exhibition, he reluctantly said that it was political.
— Elaine Henry writes on Premio Faenza

We already know how ICE agents respond to Gonzalez, a fifth-generation American, celebrated artist and teacher, respected community member, beloved husband, father and grandfather, while eating breakfast at home. We know because police did raid the family home, storming the door and rounding up two grandparents and a child in the front yard; they even found it necessary to restrain her young uncle in front of the family, all in a case of mistaken identity.
— ‘Telling’ Stories: Ray Gonzales at Axis Gallery by Susannah Israel

The pottery tradition is not predominant in all the parts of Urhobo . However, the communities that are known for this art practice, are largely Ughevwughe, Otor- Edo, Arhagba, Egini, Otutwama, Ewu-Ame and Esaba.
— The Concept of Beauty in Urhobo Pottery by Dr Abamwa Oghenekevwe Elizabeth

Eliminating the functionality of pottery inevitably renders a pot an abstract object, estranged from its sources in nature and history, an object that has no nature outside itself and is no longer mediated by human action.
— Contemporary Ceramics and the Past by David Palmer


The appeal of porcelain and jade is understandable when recognising the Chinese concept of qi, a life force that permeates everything. Their translucency arrests light drawing one to their interiority. Porcelain seems to glow as if light emanates from within. The ‘shadow’ of the hand that holds a porcelain bowl is mysterious like some half seen figure emerging from the mist.
— Porcelain and River Mud: a Chinese Art Residency by Sebastian Blackie

The participatory performance of Remembering the Empty Coolamons allows the public to pay respect to the Stolen Generations of Australia, within a context devoid of blame, shame, and guilt. The Stolen Generations refers to the tens of thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies and children forcibly removed from their families, across the whole of Australia, from the early 1900’s to 1978.
— Remembering the Empty Coolamons by Robyne Latham

A concern that is often brought up when using soda-ash is how the soda-spray would affect the inside of an electric kiln. I discussed this with a chemist, John Koh, and he suggested that I spray the mixture
directly on to an element as well as the soft brick.
— Soda Ash in Oxidation by Minori Thorpe

Although I wholeheartedly embrace the advances in digital technology, I do not lose sight of my creativity which is rooted in ceramic craft traditions. I consider myself a ceramic artist who celebrates the handmade whilst exploring a range of digital creative options, seeking new possibilities for this art form.
— Drawing and Ceramics: Pioneering a Digital Solution by Eugene Hon

Grayson Perry RA, in his role of coordinator, encouraged artists to enter work by issuing this statement: “Fellow artists! 2018 marks the 250th anniversary of the Royal Academy, so the Summer Exhibition will celebrate a quarter of a millennia of artistic innovation.”
— Turning the UK’s Royal Academy Summer Exhibition on it’s Head by Paul Bailey

Today’s ceramic artists apply their skills in continually new and exciting ways, addressing ideas and exploring conceptual concerns in ways their predecessors could never have imagined and people are paying attention to this evolution.
— Contained | Contenu: Volume Realised Through Glass and Clay by Frances McDonald

Working and living in London for 17 years exploring its vibrant multicultural energy, has changed me. My work has gradually become an eclectic mixture of elements, the result of a meeting of the past with present reality; of Western and Eastern culture.
— Aneta Regel writes about her work.

I was born in France to Beninese parents and grew up in the Parisian suburbs where people come from all over the world, especially from France’s ex-colonies of North and sub-Saharan Africa. Spending my childhood in this melting pot of different cultures was a gift from France.
— King Houndekpinkou writes about his work

and much, much more! 160 pages of critical, creative and technical writing on contemporary ceramic art from around the world.