Soft Slab Technique

Artist Statement

The task for this assignment was to shift our mindset to a production one, and focus on creating uniform-ish mugs with the slab technique. We were asked to create 4 mugs that had some design element of unity that ran through all four. Due to time, I was able to make only 2. I made about 5-ish-inch tall mugs with attempted straight lines carved out of the sides. One of the mugs has thicker lines and the other has more skinny lines carved from the side, running vertically. I used the slab roller to make my slab, and then a rolling pin and newspaper to get the shape and size to match. I haven’t glazed them yet but I am thinking of doing black and white with maybe a pop of color somewhere. 

The works are arranged so that the vertical lines on both the mugs, as well as the glazing I intend to do, make them clearly part of the same series. The color palette of black and white (with maybe a splash of color) creates movement on the cups because they will contrast with the straight-lined “uniform” looking exterior. Due to being quite behind, I made the mugs in two afternoons (one for crafting them and the other for attaching handles and making designs). That said there wasn’t much time for revision, but one choice I made when creating them was to go for a skinnier mug instead of a wide one. I was considering making them even skinnier but figured that it would make smoothing the inside difficult. 

The story behind the work is I wanted to create something that was functional, and fit the details of the assignment, but was still interesting to look at. Personally, my family has always had an assortment of mugs in the cabinet that we have been given from random spots in our life. I wanted to make unique-looking mugs that could add to the collection. I struggled with time because of being behind in other projects so if I were to do this again I would have made two more, and not been so rushed to make them. I think my artwork should be stronger in he attachment of the handles (making the inside attached part smoother) and taking more time on the lines to make them straight and even.