Smoke-fired ceramics
The process of smoke firing ceramics is exciting and unpredictable. From a sustainable perspective it's a really attractive process because the clay is only fired once in a kiln (ceramics are usually fired twice in a kiln) to make it robust enough to then smoke fire, to a temperature that is fairly low by ceramic standards. It's a significant reduction in the use of energy.
There are several ways to smoke-fire; I put my work in a big barrel along with tea, coffee, salt and combustibles. Once the fire dies down, a lid is put on the barrel which allows the smoke to infuse into the ceramic and work its magic. The added ingredients help give colour variation.
It is wonderful to relinquish control over the look of the final pieces, letting the elements and chance do their thing. I am never disappointed!
Lucem ac Tenebras
For the HEARTH installation at the Arc, Winchester I smoke-fired 250 individual boulders. To encapsulate the uniqueness of the results, I also made 2 mosaic panels.
Each panel consists of over 900 handmade smoke-fired tiles. They show the vast colour palette of the smoke-firing process in minute detail. Each tile, like each one of us, is completely unique, yet when witnessed as part of a much larger whole, can take on a powerful presence.
The white, creamy hues of the light panel are symbolic of the light within us and our capacity to shine awareness and love on the darker aspects of our humanity, captured within the darker panel, so that positive change can occur. They are named Lucem ac Tenebras. Light and dark.
