Friday: 4pm – 6:40pm
Faculty: Leah Wolff
Course Description:
This course provides students with a comprehensive introduction to clay, covering its origins, physical properties, and the firing processes. Clay, as a constantly renewing resource on Earth, holds a unique status as one of the few substances devoid of inherent value, it’s worth transmuted by the intervention of the artist. These foundational concepts serve as a backdrop for the introduction to fundamental techniques such as hand-building, surface treatment, and glazing. Examining works by artists Simone Fattal, Betty Woodman, Gabriel Orizco, Jumana Manna, Arlene Shechet and Robert Lugo, we’ll also explore the intersection of printmaking and ceramics and investigate methods for coloring clay bodies. The course will introduce essential tools like the extruder, slab roller, and spray booth.
As students explore their own unique visual language within this medium, discussions around material as meaning and the relationship of clay to body will be explored as we consider the ways in which this material is inextricably linked to the history of people throughout time.
