< PreviousJOURNAL 30 31 JOURNAL Sculpture and Ceramics | Prof. Isabella Fazzo SCU 130 Ceramics and Well-Being Contrast and Harmony SCU SOPHIA STRENA Free-form, for me, was a great way to avoid preconceptions while creating. Working at home has meant a lot more is learned through trial and error, which can easily lead to frustration at times. With this piece I didn’t go in with a plan or a concept and there wasn’t anything really that I could do wrong. I just put on some of my favorite songs and tried to get lost in the clay. As worked with the clay, this sort of organic figure-eight took shape. I was trying to immerse myself in the energy being transferred between me and the clay, working with movement, building up vertically. This piece was defiance of function, existing solely for being. For that reason, the rough texture became a key element, and the only real refinement I made was in helping the clay have the strength to defy gravity while it was drying. Looking at it, I see infinite change, unordered, chaotic, and yet balanced. This was contrast and harmony. Creating during quarantine has been an experience unto itself. From the rise and fall of emotions around coming home to the scramble to pick up and continue everything we left in Italy, nothing about this semester has been as expected. We’ve been forced to grow and adapt to new normal, stretched to our limits before having a chance to relax, only to be stretched again. In so many ways our situation has been a push to learn, unable to fall back on the familiar. That’s why I wanted to keep these pieces. Returning to making coil pots, I focused on building the form and smoothing it, giving it a natural, peaceful quality I could hold on to. I then experimented with the smoothness, using sandpaper and stones to get different finishes on each bowl. I got to experiment with the process while simultaneously giving myself a break to sit down and focus on nothing but refining the textures of the work. For me, these bowls are more than a ceramics project, they’re comfort objects, from creation to use.JOURNAL 32 33 JOURNAL These are two of my favorite ceramic projects I did this semester. The first one is the free-form project we were assigned right before the final project. The assignment was to create whatever we wanted to let our minds wander and build something that was within us. To do this, I played a music audio professor Isabella sent us to help us relax while working, and in some moments, I closed my eyes to concentrate better. Doing this assignment was eye-opening for me because I created with my hands and not with my eyes. We learn in class that all of us have so much power in our whole body, we just have to learn to use it, and that is what we do in Ceramics class all the time. I had the idea of doing a type of collage of figures, shapes, textures of the clay to brainstorm what I could use and do for the final project, and that is how this type of architectural ceramic was created. It was a different experience for me because I had never done a project like this before but it was so fun to do. The second one is my final project. This project took a lot of time to make because I was always trying to improve it and perfect it and it was something that I did outside of my comfort zone because I had never done two figures that were created with the purpose of being independent, contrasting each other, but at the same time creating so much harmony when placed together. I focused so much on the little details, trying to make them different and similar at the same time. It was a difficult project, but I am very happy with the result and I am proud of how much I have learned and how much I have grown in this class! Thank you so much, professor Isabella! Sculpture and Ceramics | Prof. Isabella Fazzo SCU 130 Ceramics and Well-Being Contrast and Harmony SCU MARIA JASSOJOURNAL 34 35 JOURNAL I believe these works show the contrast and harmony we see in life. Although sometimes we can easily flow through life, sometimes struggles happen along the way which may change the way you go about life. This is how I see the contrast between these two artworks, but the harmony is that something beautiful comes out of the struggles. Sculpture and Ceramics | Prof. Isabella Fazzo SCU 130 Ceramics and Well-Being Contrast and Harmony SCU NICOLE ARKELLJOURNAL 36 37 JOURNAL Sculpture and Ceramics | Prof. Isabella Fazzo SCU 130 Ceramics and Well-Being Contrast and Harmony Top left: This piece was my favorite, and the first piece I was able to create in Italy. I learned how to perfect the coiling technique, learned how the kiln works, and learned how to creatively and adequately glaze this piece! I was lucky to finish this in the studio and take this home, and I love this piece so much. Bottom left: While creating this piece, I was able to use my mistakes to my advantage. I learned how to create the basic cylinder shape on the wheel and I had a challenging time creating even and uniform walls. I also wasn’t able to seamlessly take the clay off the wheel without the sides folding in. The clay folded in and created these elegant curves on the edges. I used my creativity afterward to engrave floral designs in the dried clay after refining it a little. Top right: I have always wanted to test my creativity by learning how to use the wheel and have it become natural to me. Since the studio was always open, I practiced almost every day I had free time in Italy, I took the opportunity and ran with it. As you can see in the pictures, I had finally perfected my basic cylinder form seamlessly and I was so proud of that! I was finally able to create a uniform piece. SCU SAMI SPURRJOURNAL 38 39 JOURNAL ABBY CERVERA Sculpture and Ceramics | Prof. Isabella Fazzo SCU 130 Ceramics and Well-Being Contrast and Harmony SCU This piece represents the link between humans and nature, and how nature is an essential part of human life. While nature and humanity can sometimes be at odds with each other, they are each essential for the survival of each other.Next >