Deep Dreams room

For this Ceramics sculpture project in Spring '08, we used the slab method to build a structure, room, or building of our choice. I chose a simple 3-D cube structure and added a lot of detail. It is a fantasy, dream-like underwater environment containing a chair to be in the midst of all the wildlife.

The interior of the room is a tropical and friendly environment, yet since it is a dream...a penguin is diving in (rather than a dolphin), emitting air bubbles. Also, the starfish wrapped around the ruin archway is huge in comparison to all the other elements. I added a lot of texture for the gritty sea floor, full of debris, snails, shells, a jumbo clam emitting air bubbles, coral, plants, oyster shell, barnacles, kelp forest, and fish feeding. The exterior of the room is to be the outside of a regular city building, having cracks, leaks, and a spigot/faucet. The seagull is atop it all and balances the two environments, tying the two worlds together. It is sitting atop the wall, floating on the water's surface, looking down into the sea. I titled it "Deep Dreams."

I added a lot of details in my sculpture. But then after learning about creating surface colors and glazes, I realized it may not have been necessary, since I could have added texture from specific glazes (matte) and other surface techniques. When I say glazes, I'm not meaning the glossy type that you would normally be familiar with. I've learned about the whole world of engobes, stains, oxides, and matte glazing to create textures, colors, and layers.

Below are photos of my first run of getting color on. It didn't turn out the way I had imagined, but it's all unpredictable when dealing with this type of chemistry and firing medium. I carefully colored all the elements, then sprayed layers of various blue engobes for a gritty underwater view. I looked at underwater photos for reference and remembered times I've snorkeled, so realized how all things have a blueish tint and tried to convey that here. It went on heavier than I'd hoped, covering most of all the colors I spent hours applying carefully with small brushes. It's hard to capture it all in the photos. I didn't coat the bird, however, since it is not in the underwater environment. A few fragile pieces broke off that need repairs. The exterior city walls are not shown here, since they still need work. I'm going to continue working on this piece, since the surfaces/colors can be reapplied and re-fired in the kiln. The interior's look is growing on me now, since I've seen it in different light, which casts shadows nicely to make it feel like I'm looking at an underwater world. Also, since the colors are layered, they change as the light changes, as you may also notice in the photos - color changes and the way the camera interprets them.