Eccentric Teapot

Artist Statement

For this project, we were assigned to design a teapot with specific inspirations and references evident in the appearance and functionality of the object, although it could be merely sculptural as well. My teapot was directly inspired by and is of a puffer fish, simply because I find them interesting to look at and I found that the form worked quite well with that of a tea pot. I wanted to utilize the natural shape of the expanded puffer fish and make it fit the requirements of a teapot, so the tail became the handle, the mouth the spout, and the dorsal fin the handle to remove the lid. While I wanted the exterior to be very sculptural and have the classical elements of a teapot smoothly incorporated into the design, I also wanted to see if I could make it somewhat functional. 

To create my piece, I started off with pinch pot bowl the dimensions and shape I wanted the main part of my teapot to be, this would act sculpturally and decoratively as the pufferfish body and as the vessel to hold tea. With the main portion of the pot done, I additively sculpted on clay to expand the face of the puffer fish and add details like the eyes and mouth, and created a hollow tube out of a slab to create the tail, which I attached at the back of the bowl. Using thinly rolled slabs to create fins, I began to add details to make the pot more fish-like, eventually creating a lid, also out of a slab, to fit right on top of the pot and complete the roundness of the main body. What most intrigued and inspired me about the pufferfish, apart from its shape that lends itself excellently to this project, was the spikey surface of the fish, which I wanted to incorporate in a functional manner. So, I created multiple little pinched pyramids of sorts that I attached and smoothed out using slip to create interest and variety in the surface of my pot. Using underglaze, I then on a whim decided to cover the surface in lots of dots, letting the natural clay body beneath show while still making the exterior more complex.

Apart from the initial inspiration research and slide show, the most intensive part of the project was determining what shape of pufferfish to pursue, as multiple appealed to me because of their form. This caused me to create multiple sketches and possible designs for my teapot until I found one that I enjoyed most. With my sketch in hand, I began to build the pot, however even while building the clay started dictating what form I was creating, so while my final body is similar to my initial sketch, it certainly required reshaping throughout the construction process. Also, when choosing the placement of the mouth I knew I had to keep it fairly high to make it somewhat functional, although not too much so that it would spill out of the top of the pot. Similarly, the tail length, width, and mass had to be considered so as to not off-balance the rest of the pot, causing it to fall over backward. In terms of surface decoration, I felt that I wanted to do something interesting with the exterior design, however I also wanted the natural clay to show through, and not until I sat down to underglaze my pot did I think to create variety and texture through lots of dots.