sample52Sela nad Podmelcem · Slovene Littoral

Self-portrait

When I think of ceramics, I think of silence. Of the endless void, of nothing. I hear breathing, calm, rhythmic. There is a quiet heartbeat in the background. Then the images begin to form in the void. Instantaneous, like contours. I cannot draw them, I cannot catch them. They are just jumping around. I am trying to give them meaning, sort them somehow, give them an identity. They like to be in groups, they like to keep company. They talk with each other. Sometimes they are quiet. Then I am worried because I do not know how to proceed. And they are silent for quite some time. They need time to mature. Then they begin to whisper. Chatter. "We would like to come to life". All right, I will materialize you. "We want to have skin," they say. All right, I will wrap you. Every single one of you.

Kristina Rutar

Sample 52 is clay from Sela nad Podmelcem (Slovene Littoral). The recommended firing temperature is 900–1100 °C. The beginning of sintering is at 1100–1200 °C. At 1100 °C shrinkage is 17 % and porosity 6 %.