Plan:
My original plan was to interpret The Great Wave into a 3-D yarn bowl, with the wave sculpted to be the piece where the yarn is threaded. However, I realized that this plan would possibly be unrealistic within the time constraints of a class period, so I changed my plan to make a ramen bowl instead.
For the ramen bowl, my plan was to use a slump mold technique to shape the bowl. After wedging the clay, I rolled it out evenly using the slab roller table in our classroom and then shaped it over a bowl mold.
When my first bowl cracked, I had to remake my project. For this, I used the same construction method, just with a slightly smaller slump mold and with corrections made to the drying process, as I will explain in my reflection. For this bowl I used Venus White clay, and painted the piece with white, light brown, black, royal blue, and oasis teal colored underglazes.
Also, because my artist is Japanese, my broken bowl reminded me of the Japanese art practice of Kintsugi, a mending practice using lacquer and gold dust, which celebrates the history of a piece of art, including its imperfections, and accepts the transient nature of life, as well as resilience. I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity that my broken bowl presented me with, so I attempted to do this technique alongside my final project.
For this bowl, I used a slip made out of clay and vinegar to score and slip the pieces of clay back together. Then, after letting it dry, I painted the bowl a solid blue color and then applied the gold color to the cracks. I didn’t do the traditional technique of using urishi lacquer and gold powder, but I did use a modern application of epoxy and gold powder to highlight the breaks.
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Reflection:
My bowl turned out to be a slightly smaller scale than I originally imagined. The piece is also unfired because I ran into some trouble with my original bowl fully cracking and falling apart in the initial drying phase. The first time I made the bowl, it fully cracked because I left it on the slump mold when I left it out to dry.
I have learned through this process that if I am using a slump mold I have to take my clay off the mold before it dries, because the clay shrinks as it dries. I also learned that it is best to let a piece dry slowly, to prevent cracks from forming. The second time I made the bowl, I dried it off the slump mold and much slower, and that method worked extremely well.
I have also learned how to better portion out time for projects in order to have enough time to finish them to the fullest extent that I intend to. Part of the issue I had with this project was with the timing. With future projects, I am going to schedule my time out better in order to avoid this issue.
Background on the Artist:
The artist I chose for my final is Katsushika Hokusai, a Japanese artist famous for his wood block print, The Great Wave, a part of his series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji.
Hokusai lived in Japan from 1760-1849. He started drawing when he was 6 years old and in his teens became an apprentice to a block-cutter artisan who specialized in pictures of actors and actresses. At this time Hokusai also started writing and illustrating short fiction and poetry, as well as painting large building-sized performance art and producing drawing manuals. He did commissioned work and continued creating art until his death.
I was drawn to Hokusai’s style of block print, specifically in his piece titled The Great Wave. I thought this piece was interesting because of the clear definition of the lines in the wave, especially in the foam. I think his style is really cool, which is why I picked one of his artworks to interpret into 3d form for this final.