Plans and Inspirations

Since I've been at Shigaraki about a week now, I suppose it's about time to mention just exactly what I'm working on here.

When I filled out the application back in February, my plan for my residency was essentially to take the idea from one of my other pieces, East / West, and develop it further. The original piece consists of two vessels, one smaller than the other, that are connected at the base, then separate and have pointed openings pulling in different directions (it's included in the slideshow to the left, if you watch for a bit you'll hopefully be able to pick it out). The larger vessel has a white crackle glaze on the outside and copper flash glaze on the inside, whereas the smaller one is reversed, with copper flash on the outside and white crackle inside. When I was creating East / West, I was thinking a good deal about my own influences from both America and the western art world, and my experiences in Japan and knowledge of Japanese arts. A parent/child relationship or the idea of pulling away from traditions were also concepts that I took into consideration. Since the two vessels are not pointing directly opposite of one another, and the same glazes are used on each piece, only in different ways, I wanted to express that even though two people or two cultures (or even influences within the same person) might be quite different and pull away from one another, there can actually also be some similarity between the two, and what is blatant on the surface of one might still exist somewhere inside the other.

That application was 8 months ago.

Since then, I've participated in a few art fairs, and for those, I've mostly been creating what I've deemed "Emergelings" - little non-functional raku vessels based on two of my other pieces, Emerge I and Emerge II. Repetitively exploring that particular form has been fruitful as far as new ideas are concerned, though at times a bit boring (I don't think I was ever meant to be a production potter. I can only make the same thing so many times without developing a deep, unsettling urge to scream.). Over the course of a few months, the openings evolved from consistently rounded, petal-like shapes, to abstracts of leaves, birds, flames, and even a few unrecognizable but quirky curves. What I also discovered with the multitude of Emergelings is that they are wont to converse with one anther. Many people had commented on this when Emerge I and Emerge II were displayed together - one seemed to be looking after the other, leaning over in a gently protective pose that I had not intended, but rejoiced in discovering. After having 20 or 30 Emergelings finished and sitting around together, I began to see the vast range of possibilities.

The art fairs, unfortunately, have also been a good place to develop new ideas - due to the rather poor economy, there has been plenty of idle time to sit surrounded by my creations, and to see their forms in a new (somewhat bored) light. Boredom can certainly be a great source of inspiration.

So, I arrived at Shigaraki with a sketchbook full of new ideas, new directions to follow... and I'd hardly looked at that original application letter in months. Fortunately, the old and the new merged quite well, and after a bit of contemplation and new sketching, I decided to utilize the expressiveness of the Emergelings combined with the inspiration and contemplation of my current surroundings to create a new body of work that will explore a variety of human relationships. I'm also hoping to learn as much as possible about Japanese raku traditions and processes, and to show some of that new knowledge in my work as well.