Christina Peters

“I make sculptural Raku pieces as well as domestic ware, working mainly with white grogged stoneware and porcelain. The forms include thrown or composite pots using slabs, plaster moulds and thrown forms.

I am concerned with the fusion of form and surface, with clean sculptural lines, balanced with organically derived finishes that reveal traces of the ceramic process and materials involved. I am influenced by Japanese styles and European modernistic movements, e.g. ‘Bauhaus’, aiming for contemporary interpretations of classic designs.”

– Christina Peters

Raku

The pieces are hand-built and thrown using grogged clay, which can withstand the temperature shock of the raku firing process.
They are then partly burnished to give a smooth surface and subsequently bisque fired.
Most of the pieces have a resist slip and glazes applied and are then fired in a ‘raku’ gas kiln to around 900 degrees.
They will be removed red hot from the kiln into a post firing reduction chamber, filled with sawdust. After cooling down the resist glaze is chipped off and the pot can be cleaned and waxed if required.
This firing method creates an original design of black and white linear markings on the clay body with the quality of natural stone, its simplicity, organic textures and beauty.
The contrast between the controlled forms with smooth surface areas, raw surface textures and the uncontrolled random nature of the markings created in the firing process are an exciting and integral part of the work.