Thrown and altered porcelain with under-glaze 17h” x 6.5″w 2012 sold
When the Phoenix Art Museum approached me for a donation, I thought it would be fun to take a more traditional form and make it contemporary. For the past year, I have been in a research and developmental phase looking into a combination of Dazzle Camouflage, Cubist and Vorticism painting. The above photo is my first attempt, it was very well received at the event and I enjoyed creating it.
After meeting with my client and collector of early American pottery, I was able to draw upon his ideas and interest in my work to design a custom piece for his collection.
To start the building process, I begin with a thrown form. I then applied additional clay to form handles, a bottled neck and squared off sides. Once the piece was hard enough, I made a plaster mold of the original form. I then emptied and cleaned the mold of the original and poured a porcelain slip for the casting. When the new molding form is almost dry, I clean and sand the form for a perfect finish. The piece is the fired in a kiln once to harden and burn out impurities and then fired again to apply a clear glaze.
After this grueling process, the piece is ready to paint. I gather my resources, pick up a brush and begin laying the design around the form. I use China Paints for the surface and though multiple layers of paints and firings the piece is complete.
A new body of work titled Fashion + Function by Bridget Chérie Harper
Finial look in a series of colors 2012
The work posted above feature a series of feet or Function, which are basic tools of humanity; the surface or Fashion, is an extension of ourselves in a contemporary skin.
These pieces were originally constructed by hand out of clay. It took many attempts to get it just right and at times looked quite frightening. Wanting several for a series, I produced a mold out of plaster. From that mold, I used slip to “pull” a cast. Each piece was cleaned, sanded and fired in a kiln.
For the surface, I wanted to try a different approach. I have been china painting for years and while researching a project about cars on the side, I decided to try automotive paint. Fortunately, I had a contact who works for the Porche collision repair shop in town. I learned the exact process applied onto automobiles and it was a learning process. Each sculpture has multiple levels of primers, colors, pearls, clears and many layers of wax. I am extremely please with the final appearance of the series and there’s more to come.
The focus of my work is figurative ceramics. I utilize the surface of my sculptural creations as a kind of porcelain canvas for autobiographical surrealistic painting. My introduction to and interest in the PRISM lab originated from a series of attempts to create an accurate mirror image of one of my sculptures.
After a crash course in CAD programs, I used the PRISM lab’s computer scanning and prototyping processes to create a work of abstract figurative art. Conceptually, my goal was to crate a porcelain sculpture of two conjoined figures embodying a symbiotic relationship.
This project was a collaboration between myself and Arizona State University’s PRISM lab, with special thanks to Professor Dan Collins.
The tumblers I create are handcraft from beginning to end. The clay is mixed, thrown on a potter’s wheel and fired in a kiln. I polish them and have discovered a method to transfer the paintings I create on my sculptures into decals that fire onto the tumblers. The results are beautifully translucent porcelain vessels that takes on an alabaster appearance with original imagery from my paintings.