View Larger Image “Amethyst Flower,” 30 in.  (76 cm) in height, thrown porcelain, rutile-colored crystalline glaze, fired to Cone 10, strike reduction, 2005, by Kris Friedrich, Rancho Mirage, California.

April 11, 2007

Crystalline Glazes: Lattice Structures

by Jesse Hull, Ceramic Arts Daily | Read Comments (2)

When I first began studying crystalline glazes, I found few local sources willing to share their experience, so exploring written research by the likes of Diane Creber, Peter Ilsley and Derek Clarkson seemed a better process for learning. Years later, I joked with Clarkson about my dented walls and the matching bumps on my forehead, but I had found my way. Also working within the realms of wood firing, soda/salt firing and raku, I recognized the incomparable network crystalline artists in particular had formed within the ceramics world. When Steven and Susan Hill asked me to curate a show, I had already been in communication with many artists who seemed like family. I was compelled to strengthen those ties, offer others a source from which to learn and prepare the gathering that was deserved.

A lattice structure defines the intricate array forming a crystal, and “LatticeStructures” was established to survey the most deliberate form of its progression in art: macrocrystalline glazes. The LatticeStructures exhibition opened at Red Star Studios Ceramic Center on September 2, 2005, and included work by 25 artists from around the world. With the help of four leading companies in the ceramics industry as sponsors, it evolved to include an offsite two-day symposium of fourteen artists, teachers and researchers presenting to an audience of over 100 people. The exhibition/symposium became an extensive, yet intimate setting for individuals to communicate from the pedestal and stage, and more importantly, through personal interaction. Attendees were offered experience and insight on history, aesthetics and personal processes from pacesetters in ceramics.

On a defensive note, I do admit that crystalline glazes live up to the term, “technique-based,” although I fail to see many areas in ceramics falling short of this description. It amazes me how some, after making zinc-silicates simply “appear” on clay objects without any regard for form or crystal-to-background ratios, claim mastery and now denounce it as a recurring fad. To press this, I offer that anyone believing that any art genre ebbs in and out of style needs to have their thought process stripped from the wheel head and rewedged. Crystallines represent a tediously tasking endeavor and, when precision and artistry are balanced, convey unparalleled brilliance.

For the symposium, I encouraged a focus on the relationship between all ceramics artists and the industry providing for them. For this symposium, the goal became melding experience from the research/industrial level with the artistic, in order to provide the most informative experience possible. With fast ramps, high temperatures, and tortuous holds pushing equipment and the need for accuracy to extremes, one might suggest that if a kiln can handle repeated crystalline firings, it can endure most anything. Among the presenting artists, Dave Bartlett, of Bartlett Instruments, offered information on their redesigned motherboard used in many kiln computers today. L&L Kilns’ Steve Lewicki shared information concerning vents, thermocouples and electric elements. Jon Pacini, from Laguna Clay Company, spoke on his research with crystallines on various clay bodies.

A major topic posed during and following Lattice-Structures involved the hurdle of reducing crystalline glazes to achieve colors unavailable in oxidation. A reduction atmosphere on the way to peak temperature means damage to elements and the volatizing of the necessary zinc in the glaze. Some participating artists, including Ilsley and William Melstrom, achieve reduction anyway by modifying their electric kilns with burner/drip systems, or by refiring in a fuel kiln. Others, such as Bill Campbell, use both electric and gas, using computers to simplify Cone 10 oxidation in the latter. A presentation by Kris Friedrich and Paul Geil illustrated the benefits obtained from a gas kiln with an automatic damper system using a microprocessor to control the atmosphere as well as the temperature. As amazing as the results are, as with many innovations, the cost is more than what most artists can consider.

Friedrich and Geil understand that crystalline artists comprise one of the smallest, yet fastest growing areas in ceramics, so after collaborating with them concerning an overlooked demographic and an extension of the idea they had brought to fruition, I can say that a new kiln design is currently passing the final phases of testing. After researching many companies supplying superb products, and the market as it stands, there is no argument that an affordable, low-maintenance, automated oxidation/reduction kiln is long overdue.

What occurred at LatticeStructures is now spreading as a basis for understanding, and invoking a continued inspiration toward engineering. I hope it will help many more to value an art form that is technical, beautiful and thoroughly rewarding.

Future events are already being scheduled, and I sincerely appreciate all the participants who made LatticeStructures the success that it is. For more information on participants, visit http://www.latticestructures.com.