Micro/Macro Inside/Outside

An introduction by Hank Saxe

Doing ceramics is a way of doing geology by other means. When I’m doing ceramics, I’m basically involved in a series of research projects, tinkering with geologic processes.  I’m selecting materials from the earth, mixing them into clay bodies, manipulating that stuff, forming objects, applying layers of finishes, and heat-treating them, to suspend the process at a chosen, fixed point. 

I was interested in geology before I knew a lot about ceramics. For me, the study of ceramics has been an extended series of investigations into the chemical and thermal interactions of materials, with an anthropological and historical twist, as well: looking at the history of people doing ceramics; how humans have gotten involved in these processes. It has been a behavioral study, too: I’m learning how to interact with the stuff that I’m working with.  

The laws of nature control the behavior of materials, even when materials and processes are tweaked and twisted by curious, willful humans. The clays and minerals, the stuff of ceramics, behave in certain unchallengeable ways; they make the rules. It’s up to the artist to figure out what the rules are and proceed from there.  Rather than manipulating a passive medium, the artist must learn about these innate tendencies and participate in a continuous dialogue with the material. Each piece of work serves as another investigation into how these behaviors manifest and how the artist can respond to them. This relationship relies on feedback, where actions and responses dictate the outcome. What I learn from the last outcomes shapes the direction of the next investigation. It’s not so much the technical information that is revealed that sets the course for the next project. It’s the hints revealed by the unexpected sets of outcomes that suggest which direction to head towards next. It’s usually a very subtle change of direction- tiny increments of evolution.  

 With the opportunity to learn from these investigations, the work advances by adjusting variables, tinkering with formulas and altering processes. This practice reveals that patterns of material behavior manifest across all scales, from the micro to the macro. The same rules of order that arrange small-scale elements also shape large-scale geographical features. These ceramic materials are subject to the same rules as other earthen components; the forces that shape landforms on a large geologic scale also play out on them.