FREE ESSAY ON CERAMICS

CERAMICS

Essay on Ceramists
Richard Fairbanks, although many times overlooked, was an important American ceramist. He
was known as a loner and because of this he was never really appreciated for his talent.
Fairbanks was greatly influence by his professors. Professor Paul Bonifas, who taught at
the University of Washington, was one who left a huge impact on Fairbanks work. Fairbanks
created a system of sketching pottery profiles, which stemmed from Bonifas' teachings, as
a mean of thinking on paper. This approach to pottery through sketching was a crucial
element that separated Fairbanks from many other Asian-inspired American peers. Although,
Fairbanks was a wheel thrown expert, he continued to think on paper throughout his
creative life. 
Much of what absorbs Fairbanks interests can be seen in his making of candlesticks,
casseroles, and vases. During the later part of his life he created three of his final
pieces. One being the Stoneware Heart Plate, 1985, secondly the Stoneware server, 1985,
and thirdly the Stoneware Vase, 1985. These were three of Fairbanks last works, which
suggest the direction in which he was headed, in terms of what defined his style, before
he became deathly ill. 
The plate, which is an exploration of decoration, is liquid clay or slip pattern of
concentric circles around a valentine heart. This plate was wheel thrown, and glazed with
iron oxide and copper red washes. I find it very interesting because it seems to portray
more emotion than most of his other pieces. This can probably be indirectly associated
with Fairbanks illness and how he was feeling at the time. 
The next piece he made during his period of illness was called the Stoneware Server. The
server can be explained by unadorned simplicity. It also takes on some style of the art
deco period. Fairbanks decided that for the server, he would decorate a new style of
handles. The thrown thread-spool shape. Many people explained this server as a model of
modernist formal unity. The server is covered with red matte glaze. I became attracted to
this piece because of its simplicity. It creates room for interpretation, which I find
culminating. 
His last and final piece, which is very interesting, is called the Stoneware Vase* It has
two curled spiral handles, suggestive of ancient or pre-historic civilizations. It is a
thrown vas4e that is 10x8x6. It is interesting because many feel that if Fairbanks had
lived longer, he might have taken on an exploration of ancient or pre-historic cultures.

Instead of purist forms, Fairbanks explored the less traveled road of rough and crusty
clay bodies, which emerge, from the surface of the glaze. This in turn removed his pieces
from any realm of perfection. In the end Fairbanks demonstrated, trough his pieces, the p
[positive and negative approaches that he was exposed to during his years. Fairbanks
wrote, My eyes are lazy and don't see well. With my hands I se, and that is good. I can
hold the whole world in my hands when I am seeing with them a good pot. Then there is the
earth: dense and heard, yet at one time it grew, expanded and breathed; there like seed
to stalk to flower to fruit, it patiently endured the potters tactile search. The clay
speaks softly but firmly to the potter, it is not afraid because it will always have the
last word, even if it must atomize itself to return again and seeks its destiny anew in
another's hands. My hands see the clay and the clay murmurs to them take it easy, you're
in good hands. The dialogue continues long after the brief communication when the hands
and the clay see each other, they know. They know. This statement was said to take great
poignancy because of the last two years of his life. Fairbanks was diagnosed with
malignant brain tumor, which created little to no studio activity. As his disease
progressed, Fairbanks lost more and more eyesight. This passage softly states his
awareness to the distinctive connection between hands and clay. 
Takeshi Yasuda is somewhat of a treasure. His main focus in pottery is engaged in pots as
a focus of our daily activities and rituals. Pots are not just a visual object, but
something to be cherished on many levels. Yasuda's objects are often marked as sensual
and tactile, which reveal the fluidity of his ideas. Yasuda was a wheel thrower, who was
intrigued by formal complexities of wheel thrown pottery. Takeshi Yasuda does a wonderful
job at involving and engaging the user. 
His most intriguing work, are his studies of the fluid nature of wheel thrown porcelain.
Many of Yasuda's pots are about tension, tension between the upward and downward, this is
what I find absolutely intriguing. 
Much of what Yasuda created crossed over the line of what gravity would allow. It was
said that most of the time his pots would collapse of the wheel and he would hang tem
upside down to dry. Two interesting pieces that he had done was the Sprung Bottom Bowl,
and the Platter with Handles. Each of these pots is interesting in shape and use of
texture. His approach to each piece creates a more interesting view. He creates each
piece with special qualities. Yasuda's view should not be looked at in terms of design,
but in a way a pot can generate and be part of a ritual, and add depth to the viewer or
user. 
In his Bowl, which is made from stoneware, we see the use of glazes. The glaze Yasuda
uses creates a freedom for modern abstraction. Even though not extreme, the glaze on this
piece is very interesting and captivating. Although this is true, he never wants a purely
visual analysis to disrupt the analysis by the hand. In Yasuda's Sprung bottom Bowls, he
takes plate forms and fits them over rigs at the leather hard stage and pushes them down
to create deep containers. 
In Yasuda's Platter one sees the movement that he tried to captivate in many of his
works. This Platter is made from Creamware, which was an invention of 18th century
Staffordshire. Creamware was what eventually replaced the popular thin glazed products.
Yasuda gave a new name to creamware. He was impressed with its optimistic and visually
liberating appearance.
Though not strongly shown in the pieces above, Yasuda's ability to control and rescue a
form before a complete collapse takes place amazes me. His interest in gravity and
directional pull played a huge role in Yasuda's style.
I feel strongly that Yasuda's success comes from his love of exploration, especially of
the unknown. By challenging the normal his pots engage and provoke his audience.
Richard Fairbanks and Takeshi Yasuda are very different in nature, but I find each of
their works visually and aesthetically compelling. Difference creates questions, which
creates interests, which creates answers. I feel both of these men treasured simplicity
in its realist form! Fairbanks and Takeshi both explored the unknown to create identity
for themselves. The creativity, ingeniousness, and capacity of knowledge that these men
display helps identify who they are and what they stand for as artists.