DANTE AMBRIEL/FLOWING ART STUDIO


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ARTIST'S STATEMENT:

I make both figures and bowls in porcelain and ceramic. Different clay types have very different qualities. Lately I have been using mostly porcelain. Porcelain radiates and becomes translucent when fired. This excuses its contrary nature. As I work, I listen to the object as it appears before me - forming it spontaneously - as it tells me what I need to do to fulfill its nature, step by step.

The white purity of porcelain and its delicate texture are almost flesh-like and each mark I make in the porcelain allows the inner language of the object that is emerging - so to speak. Regardless of whether it is a bowl, a cup or a sculpture, each object has a voice and seems to claim its own space, be it material space, emotional space, or spiritual space - as though it were a living object.

For hand building, careful engineering is critical to achieve perfect flow and balance and to prevent distortion and slumping. Controlling the movement and allowing the flow - in making, drying and the firing process - is like a tango involving a pair of dancers (water dancing with earth) as they try to keep the tango form while dancing in a wind storm.

I begin with wedging the porcelain. I work hand building from slab sheets, extruded forms or shapes from throwing on my wheel. I create the skin of the form which must have to withstand the drying and firing processes without cracking. I only use my hands, a few simple tools and a brush to create both the inner and the outer surface, continuously refining the outer shape. Time is critical for building and drying and the object must be kept in a perfect humidity balance so that it can receive all its additional layers. When complete, it is wrapped with layers of soaked cotton sheet and placed under plastic for up to a month more. These are removed slowly - finally unwrapped completely to allow air drying before the bisque.

I bisque to Cone 06 using silica sand under the form to allow the piece to slide while in the kiln so as not to tear the form against the shelf. Supports are often employed. The form is then refined with different levels of diamond grit, glazed or not depending on the form, and then fired to Cone 06 with blanket, silica and/or supports. The final layers of colour are achieved by additional firings and gildings.