CHARLES HINDES I IOWA
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The Japanese aesthetic, with reference to the tea ceremony and its use of unglazed ware, has been my main inspiration. The issue of gesture, movement, or animation has been important to my work for years. The plastic and gestural qualities of clay should be emphasized, not dulled or subdued with an opaque or transparent skin. For my work the movement of the form is heightened with the orchestration of natural color created by wood firing.

I feel wood firing has enhanced my work by providing a palette of colors and surface textures that strengthen my forms visually, rather than cover them with a superficial skin. Wood firing draws the inherent colors in the clay to the surface where they form patterns. The intense interaction of fire and clay permanently etches the color into the pot. The resulting patterns of color and textures create a lasting visual record of the wood firing.

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