All Fired Up

Clementine Keith-Roach embraces ceramic’s long history. She begins with antique vessels from the Mediterranean. These found objects once stored liquids. Today the artist uses an additive process to attach hands and arms.

For works like her 2019 Neither she nor we were willing, above, Keith-Roach applies plaster and paint to make her additions match the original vessel. She blurs the lines between ancient and contemporary, utilitarian (functional) object and art.

From her studio in England, Keith-Roach explores the intersection of different types of labor and art. “I see my gesturing, sculptural hands as pointing to the laboring hands that made/used these vessels and by extension to laboring hands in general,” she explains.

Clementine Keith-Roach is inspired by ceramic’s long history. She uses found objects in her artworks. She begins with old ceramic vessels, which once stored liquids. Then she adds hands and arms.

For works like her 2019 Neither she nor we were willing, shown above, Keith-Roach applies plaster and paint to the hands and arms. She tries to make the new hands and arms match the old vessel as closely as possible. It’s difficult to tell which parts of the work are old and which parts are new. Keith-Roach wants the viewer to think about how the vessel could still be used to hold liquids and how it is also a work of art.

Sometimes a practical need leads to innovation. “I started to do lighting because I needed some lamps for my home,” says Carmen D’Apollonio. If the self-taught artist’s 2022 I Don’t Care About You, above, also reminds you of a figure, you’re onto something. Her sculptures have anthropomorphic, or humanlike, characteristics. In this example, the form suggests a pair of crossed legs. The title also evokes a distinct personality. “Each lamp becomes its own character and seems like a little human,” the artist explains.

D’Apollonio, who was born in Switzerland and currently lives in Los Angeles, begins by sketching her ideas. Above all, she wants her work to be functional rather than simply a beautiful thing that sits on a shelf. What are the functions of I Don’t Care About You?

Sometimes a basic need leads to new ideas. “I started to do lighting because I needed some lamps for my home,” says Carmen D’Apollonio. She is an artist who was born in Switzerland and lives in Los Angeles, California. Does D’Apollonio’s 2022 I Don’t Care About You, above, remind you of something—or someone? Her sculptures have humanlike details. In this example, her sculpture has what looks like a pair of crossed legs.

D’Apollonio aims to make her artworks functional, so they are not just beautiful things sitting on a shelf. What are the functions of I Don’t Care About You?

You might see a cracked cup and toss it in the trash, but Takuro Kuwata (tah-koo-roh koo-wah-tah) relishes imperfections like the ones in his 2011 Tea Yellow-Green Slipped Platinum Kairagi Shino Bowl, above. Reflective silver shards crack across a green porcelain (a type of fine ceramic) surface, as if the vessel has outgrown its skin.

“Working with . . . colors makes me feel good, and the emotions that come from this kind of creation make . . . me feel very joyful,” the artist explains.

Kuwata creates this surface quality using glaze, a liquid applied to the surface of ceramics before firing—the process of heating to dry and harden them. Chemical reactions in the kiln, a special oven for firing ceramics, transform Kuwata’s work. After he glazes his ceramics, the artist never knows exactly what will emerge from the kiln.

The element of surprise is a key part of Kuwata’s process. The Japanese artist explores wabi-sabi (wah-bee sah-bee), a Japanese philosophy that finds beauty in things that are flawed. Do you see flaws, beauty, or both in the example above?

You might see a cracked cup and throw it away. But flaws, like the ones in the 2011 example above, excite the Japanese artist Takuro Kuwata (tah-koo-roh koo-wah-tah). The silver pieces crack across green porcelain (a fine ceramic). It looks like the bowl has outgrown its skin.

Kuwata creates this appearance using glaze, a liquid applied to ceramics’ surfaces before they are heated or fired. Chemical reactions in the kiln, a special oven for firing ceramics, transform Kuwata’s work. He never knows exactly how they will turn out.

This artist finds beauty in flawed things. Do you see flaws, beauty, or both in the example above?