Our hands are our receptors to feel through this world. They signal to our minds and hearts how to interact with the landscapes that surround us. When connecting and attuning to our sensorial touch, the information that we gather through our finger tips can be one of our greatest sources of insight.
Clay is one of earth’s most malleable materials. It holds memories and takes the impression of that which comes into contact with it. Moving through the elements - earth, wind, fire and air, clay becomes highly chaotic and unpredictable. It is both incredibly mutable and extremely delicate at the same time, teaching those that choose to work with that the path of least resistance is to let go.
In this workshop, we will focus on tuning the relationship between our hands, hearts, minds and material. We will strengthen our ability to listen, and feel through clay. We will develop our capability to hear what the material is telling us and allow it to lead us, rather than imposing our own expectations onto it.
Through its shape shifting nature, clay allows for us to channel emotions and allow for them to take complex forms that at times transcend the limits of language. In a time of insufferable grief, ceramics is a process that can ground us and give form to emotions too complex for words. In certain states, ceramics has the ability to sooth our nervous system, allows us to connect to ourselves, one another and the world around us.
In this workshop we will explore fundamental hand building techniques to create large form sculptural pieces, both functional and abstract. Participants are welcome to build as many pieces as they’d like throughout the duration of the workshop and will receive clay to take home with them in order to practice and develop work outside of the studio.
All pieces will be fired to cone 5 and will be ready for pick up within 3 weeks of the commencement of the workshop. We will be working with an unglazed local iron rich clay body. All experience levels welcome.
