Centennial Hills artist’s exhibit features ancient ceramics technique
The work in Centennial Hills resident Shari Bray’s show “Earth Science” at Las Vegas City Hall, 495 S. Main St., uses a technique that is ancient in the world of ceramics but new to the artist.
“I just can’t do the same thing over and over and over and over, so I switched from doing raku to saggar firing,” Bray said. “It’s also a primitive firing technique, but it’s a lot more random.”
Bray has been working in raku for several years. Raku involves taking hot ceramics straight from the kiln and placing it into a combustible material, such as pine needles, saw dust or newspaper, and then quickly extinguishing the flame. The fire affects the glaze and surface of the finished work and creates unique effects on each piece.
Saggar firing is similar in that combustible materials are introduced to ceramics, but in saggar firing, the materials are placed into the kiln at the same time as the bisque-fired ceramics, and the materials are mostly burned away, leaving their mark on the finished piece in the form of subtle colors and flash burn marks.
“In traditional saggar firing, the ceramics and the organic or combustible materials are put into something called a saggar, which is a large pot with a lid,” Bray said. “I’m doing the poor man’s saggar fire, because I don’t have a great big, expensive kiln. I can do this in my raku kiln at a much lower temperature.”
Instead of a saggar, Bray wraps the work and the materials in several layers of heavy aluminum foil.
“To get the residue to adhere to whatever you put next to it, you brush the work with a chemical called ferric chloride,” Bray said. “Then you surround it with stuff.”
It’s the choice of what to surround the work with that determines what the final piece might look like.
“You’ll see some squiggly lines on the finished pieces that were made by unraveling a copper dish scrubby and wrapping it around the piece,” Bray said. “Copper is an amazing chemical in the kiln. It can go from green to pink to all manner of colors. It can even act as a resistor, leaving a white trail where the copper kept another material from coloring the work.”
Bray has tried a number of substances, including salt, which she says leaves a beautiful pink color, banana peels that sometimes color the work purple and Miracle-Gro plant food, which creates several colors.
Because of the unusual materials being slowly consumed by fire and reduced to ash and fumes, Bray keeps her kiln outdoors.
“It comes out quite random. You just can’t control it,” Bray said. “It’s a thing where you run to the kiln to see what you’ve ended up with.”
Bray said she is generally pleased with the results, but when she is not, the work can be refired to burn off the staining and then fired again, with a new set of materials surrounding the work in its aluminum foil envelope.
Bray creates additional patterns and colors with under-glazes and taped-off lines that create more randomness as the materials interact with the raw ceramic, glazes and partially sealed- off areas.
Traditional saggar pieces are finished with waxing to bring out and intensify the colors. Bray uses a similar technique by simply giving it a few coats of clear spray paint.
“It just pulls the color out, and the color just pops,” Bray said.
The works are named after Bray sees how they turn out. She said it is akin to seeing pictures in clouds.
Her work was perfect for showing at City Hall, said Jeanne Voltura, a gallery coordinator for the city of Las Vegas.
“It’s really beautiful in that space,” Voltura said . “I’ve been trying to put in pieces that are set off by the space or that set off the space. I’m trying to create a feeling that the work is beautiful and precious.”
Voltura has been curating shows for the city since the new Las Vegas City Hall opened in February 2012. So far, she has handpicked the artists whose work has been shown at the Grand Gallery in the lobby .
“Eventually, I’ll put out a call for artists for that space, but right now I’m putting very specific kinds of work there,” Voltura said. “I’m putting in sculptural pieces that are intensely colored or shiny to stand out in that space.”
“I’m very happy that my work is in that space,” Bray said. “I’m very excited by the work and the technique, and I can’t wait to see what happens next time I open the kiln.”
“Earth Science” is set to be on display through Aug. 22 in the Grand Gallery .
Contact Paradise/Downtown View reporter F. Andrew Taylor at ataylor@viewnews.com or 702-380-4532.
