Clay Sgraffito

Artist Statement

For this piece, I created a very round and organically shaped figure, as I mainly wanted to play with the silhouettes created by the prominent side profile. Although the end product was not my original idea when I set out to create and form the clay, I wanted to play with proportion and balance from the beginning. Overall, I suppose I wanted to experiment with the form and ways that I could manipulate and over exaggerate features while maintaining a clean and smooth form. The sgraffito design was intended to add movement and emphasis to the natural curves of the form, while still maintaining a sense of unity.

This sculpture was made from clay, which I formed and then let slowly air dry, which then allowed me to use the method of sgraffito on a coat of underglaze. The whole clay form process was new to me, especially creating the actual form from the wet clay. As I was using the pinch-pot method for the first time, I constantly had to readjust and reshape my clay form and it took me quite a while to get my form to a shape that I wanted. The slow drying process was also efficient as it allowed me to really shape and accentuate the clay form in a state that was easier to handle. I used bendable edges and scrapers to smooth out any bumps, which allowed me to create flush curves. This step was also essential to do the sgraffito on the underglaze, which I carved with a clay needle tool, using it almost like a pen as I etched into the glaze. The final step was to clear glaze it and fire it one last time, which held the underglaze in place and keeps it from chipping.

From the start of the project I knew that I wanted to do a human figure, and I was especially inspired by the artist Tim Christiansen, who was featured in a bell ringer. Originally I wanted to make the figure a skier, however the further I got into shaping the clay form, the more I drifted away from that idea. My original sketches and ideas were unrealistic for the properties of the clay, and having never made a hollow figure out of clay before, I only learned this once I actually started using the clay. It took me several classes to make and remake my base pinch pot, as I was constantly revising the size, length, and thickness of the clay. After further understanding and discovering the way the clay and the way I could manipulate it, for instance how and when to use water, I was slowly able to build up my form. Although my end product was not entirely what I originally set out to make, I am really pleased with how I learned and progressed with creating from clay, as well as all of the techniques I learned along the way.