Anagama Wood Fired Ceramic Art & Pottery by David Soo

Anagama & Wood Fired Pottery

David Soo Anagama & Wood-fired Ceramic ArtDavid Soo

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Solo Exhibition at the Paterson Museum
Paterson, NJ
Through January 5, 2014 


Work purchased by Paramount Pictures
for film production of “Noah”
Starring Russell Crowe, Emma Watson and Anthony Hopkins


Now Showing at Outside In Gallery
Piermont, New York

 

Anagama Ceramic Art

Anagama Ceramic Art by David Soo: woodfired sculpture and pottery, info on kiln building, and woodfiring techniques..

Anagama Wood Fired Pottery Kiln

The anagama kiln (Japanese: 穴窯) is an ancient type of pottery kiln brought to Japan from China via Korea in the 5th century.

Anagama (a Japanese term meaning "cave Kiln") describes single-chamber kilns built in a tunnel shape. An anagama kiln typically consists of a firing chamber with a firebox at one end and a flue at the other. Although the term "firebox" is used to describe the space for the fire, there is no physical structure separating the stoking space from the pottery space. Ancient anagama kilns were sometimes built by digging tunnels into banks of clay.

An anagama kiln is fueled with wood, in contrast to the electric or gas-fueled kilns. A supply of wood is needed for firing. Burning wood not only produces heat of up to 1400°C (2,500 °F), it also produces fly ash and volatile salts. Wood ash settles on the pieces during the firing, and the complex interaction between flame, ash, and the minerals of the clay body forms a natural ash glaze. This glaze may show great variation in color, texture, and thickness, ranging from smooth and glossy to rough and sharp. Read more....

 

The placement of pieces within the kiln distinctly affects the pottery's appearance, as pieces closer to the firebox may receive heavy coats of ash, or even be immersed in embers, while others deeper in the kiln may only be softly touched by ash effects. Other factors that depend on the location include temperature and oxidation/reduction. Besides location in the kiln, (as with other fuel-fired updraft kilns) the way pieces are placed near each other affects the flame path, and, thus, the appearance of pieces within localized zones of the kiln can vary as well. It is said that loading an anagama kiln is the most difficult part of the firing. The potter must imagine the flame path as it rushes through the kiln, and use this sense to paint the pieces with fire.

The length of the firing depends on the volume of the kiln and may take anywhere from 48 hours to 12 days or more. The kiln generally takes the same amount of time to cool down. Records of historic firings in large Asian kilns shared by several village potters describe several weeks of steady stoking per firing.

See pictures of the Anagama kiln

About David Soo

David Soo began working in clay in 1971 at age 9, and was introduced to Anagama wood firing in 1989. Educated in a Summerhill-style school produced an inherent non-conformity in the way he views the creative process. This perspective, paired with influences from his Asian and European heritage, has developed David’s work into a synthesis of Abstract Expressionist Art and Pottery. The co-builder of his Anagama kiln, David has had the opportunity to study with respected artists such as Peter Voulkos, James Makins, Lester Polakov and Peter Leventhal. He has exhibited in museums and received a New Jersey Council for the Arts Fellowship for outstanding excellence in ceramic art.

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Links

  • Cordes Printing  
  • Elizabeth Coyne – Painter
  • Harry Orlyk – Painter
  • Jane Herold – Potter
  • Larry Horowitz – Painter
  • Oden Maxwell – Ceramics (A site with great information)
  • Sam Vaughan – Painter & Printer
  • Scott Healy – Keyboardist and Composer
  • SugarHill Works – Website designers
  • Susy Goodelman – Ceramics
  • Tim Scull – Potter
  • Todd Piker – Cornwall Bridge Pottery

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibition, Paterson Museum
October 26-December 8, 2013

Belskie Museum of Art and Science
"Ways of Seeing: 5 Contemporary Sculptors," 2013

Solo Exhibition, Greenwich House Pottery, NYC 2012

Hudson Beach Glass, Beacon, NY 2010

See complete list of exhibitions

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