Fired Up! Contemporary Works in Clay

Fired Up! -Contemporary Works in Clay
2025: ATMOSPHERIC

The annual Fired Up! -Contemporary Works in Clay event is a highlight of the Canadian ceramics art scene. This year the theme is "Atmospheric" -exploring all aspects of atmospheric firing methods: reduction gas, wood, salt and soda, pit and barrel smoke firing, saggar, raku and obvara. Contemporary atmospheric firing techniques yield remarkable surface effects; vibrant and exciting designs and textures are imprinted on clay forms by dancing flames and drafts carrying ash and fumes from combustibles such as salt, soda, coal, gas, wood, sawdust, leaves, grass, straw, and other organics. Because these are burning, a reduction environment is created which starves the atmosphere of oxygen. This allows these fumes to interact with the glaze and oxides leaving chemical changes, carbon tracings and ash deposits on the porous surfaces of the ware. The magic of atmospheric firing is that it elicits varying responses depending on the chemical compounds within the combustibles and their interplay with heat, reduction, oxidation, time and the placement in the kiln. Each piece is unique and though there are some broad practices for encouraging certain effects, the results are largely random and unreproducible. It is true alchemy, and in no other ceramic process is there a greater collaboration between the clay, the atmospheric conditions and the artist in achieving these one-of-a-kind results.

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Category: Arts | Visual Arts