Portrait of a Kiln: Chad Steve
Chad Steve
Tequesta FL, Lighthouse ArtCenter
Gas / Soda Catenary Arch
Cut and Dry:
Kiln built: Summer of 2019
Kiln Construction: Catenary Arch, hard brick, approximately 20 cu ft.
Fuel Source: Gas/Propane with wood option
Builder: Live Oak Pottery, Justin Lambert and LAC crew
Firings: over 50
Pure Process:
Clay body used is a fine porcelain. Each piece is either wheel thrown or hand built, with alterations to form and addition of slip and gathered sand on exterior surfaces. A traditional celadon glaze for interior and copper or ashen glaze for exterior are used. Soda fired to cone 10 (roughly 2350 F) in a reduction atmosphere.
Definitions:
Soda firing is a ceramic firing technique where soda ash (sodium Carbonate) or baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is introduced to the kiln at a high temperature. The soda then evaporates and flame carries the vapor within the kiln, landing on the hot pots. When the soda vapor comes in contact with the pot’s surfaces, it binds to the silica molecules to create a variated glaze coverage, commonly called flashing.
Reduction atmosphere is firing process where there is a deficiency of oxygen inside the kiln. The firing is then forced to find oxygen with the clay bodies, glazes and outside the kiln. In my case, creating a very carbon reach/sooty atmosphere.
The Romance within the Juice:
Visually I want my work to speak of nature or the natural world, a line somewhere between land and water. Curator at the Charlie Cummings Gallery, Gainesville FL says it best:
“Chad Steve's soda-fired porcelain is a sensuous exploration of form and surface that evokes the wild places in our world and in our spirits. His forms seem shaped by elemental forces the way sand dunes are pushed by wind, ice flows transformed by freeze and thaw cycles, or barrier islands are worn and rebuilt by the relentlessness of pressure of the ocean. The surfaces proceed by his glazing and firing method beautifully highlight these forms and add a layer of character the way the forces of nature do to anything in their grip. Glaze pools, iron speckles like pebbles, and occasionally pink blush suggests the warmth of the sunset as the sun melts away out of view. Here and there a delightful chuck suggests a boulder made of harder rock that resists these movements as the softer substrate around it is worn away. This sublime pottery evokes the places the artist has been and the unknown places he has yet to go.
-CCG-