Install: Week Eleven in the Studio
At the start of the week, all of my work was green and by the end of the week, I had all of my work glazed and ready to load into the soda kiln. A kiln that I have never fired by myself, but I've been quite eager to have the experience.
That Saturday night I got into the studio to finish all my last-minute glazing and get the kiln loaded. Kade helped me brick up the door and I started the pilots around 10 pm. Unfortunately, I had to work the next day so I was incredibly thankful for Christopher and Kade as they eagerly gave me a helping hand. I can't wait to see how the pieces in this firing turn out and I can't wait to share them with you soon.
Lots of things to do as the 11th week started to unfold. Emma and I had to install for our space lab show that we had conceptualized the previous week. Our idea was that you would walk into the space slab show and there would be no work only a statement from all three of us explaining the premise. And then a QR code that had coordinates when scanned. We hoped this would evoke some sort of adventure, and not much unlike geocaching that you would seek out the work in the real world. We decided to call this show. I was her, the never-ending dance humans have with legacy and what it means to us.
A big part of preparing for my show was making sure that all of my work was finished. And all of the sculptures I intended to display were in the kiln over the weekend cooling down. The workload in the beginning was daunting, but unloading the kiln I'm essentially getting to open presents.
I remember seeing it all out of the kiln and actually being very surprised. I expected my first time firing this kiln solo to not be a huge success. It seems now in retrospect that I was really doubting myself. Because the results from this firing exceeded my expectations. All that I had left to do was build new wings for the sculptures and get them installed.
With install complete Kade Emma and I walked to the location where we would be meeting for our critique. It was a pretty drab and wet day, but like real troopers everyone showed up and shared their ideas.
