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Brief Description of Work:
Large work: press moulded
and hand-built using clays with coloured aggregates and glass. Also
hand-built coloured vessels.
Training and Experience:
1972-77 - Bath Academy of Art
- BA (Hons) 3D design: Ceramics main study, Textiles supporting
study
1978 - Goldsmiths College - ATC Post Graduate
1993-96
- Royal College of Art - M Phil Post Graduate Research: Ceramics
Selected Exhibitions:
1990 - Takashimaya, Japan.
Invited craftsman and guest for British Fair
1991 - 'British
Contemporary Ceramics', Museum fur Kunst and Gewerbe, Hamburg,
Germany
1992 - Solo Exhibition, Beaux Arts Gallery, Bath
1993 - Solo Exhibition, Galerie L, Hamburg, Germany
1994 -
Solo Exhibition, Loes and Reinier, International Ceramics, Deventer,
Netherlands
1995 - 'Britain in Greece' Contemporary Ceramics,
group exhibition, Gardelio Centre, Athens, Greece
1996 - British
Ceramics, selected ceramists, Keramik Galerie - Hilde Holstein,
Bremen, Germany
1996 - Solo Exhibition, The Elusive Body, The
Victoria Art Gallery, Bath
1997 - Solo Exhibition, Goed Werk GCV
Centre for Spatial and Graphic Design, Belgium
1998 - Solo
Exhibition, 'Dashed, Speckled, Brushed'. Loes and Reiner,
International Ceramics, Deventer, Netherlands
Other Activities:
Associated with my teaching and my
personal ceramic work I undertake short courses, demonstrations and
lectures.
For Ceramic Review I write articles, exhibition
and book reviews.
I am involved with the events committee
for NACHE and currently organising a series of lectures to coincide
with Ceramic Contemporaries 3.
Artists Statement:
I am drawn to forms - bold, simple
and often stark - that may at first appear quiet and unassuming, but
are arresting through their powerful presence. My references are to
architecture and the natural world. In my large scale work I often
seek to use a stylised image that is openly decorative in form.
Rhythm and movement are common concerns in both areas of work.
Visual intrigue is an important factor, revealed through surfaces
that are uncompromising yet always deliberate. The small pots might
be harshly slashed and inlaid with coloured porcelains or softly
painted with slips. The sculptures in contrast are constructed of a
fine clay matrix that has large inclusions of coloured clay grogs
and glass. After firing the objects are ground and polished, giving
the material a very distinct visual richness and depth. It is my
desire for both the form and surface of my work to be emotionally
satisfying through a visual as well as a physical sensuality.
Further Information:
The preoccupations within my work are recurrent -
the formality of classical proportion, the simplicity and expressive
power of archetypal stylisation and the integration of form and
surface through decoration and texture. I am fascinated by both
Indian sculpture that predates the 11th century and the natural
forms of fruits, seeds and pods, with each having informed some
aspect of my work. They share the vitality and optimism of life, yet
one is the result of a sophisticated civilisation striving to
express human emotion in a highly stylised way whilst the other is
an equally powerful expression of life force that does not involve
the human or human intention.
My early interests in clay were rooted in tradition
and I focused on the vessel to explore my ideas. In this series of
sculptures, titled The Elusive Body, my interests and concerns
remain constant whilst the objects identify more with their
relationship to their environment than to any particular historic
ceramic reference. Whilst my earlier vessels were made for domestic
interiors and were of a domestic scale, the new work is considered
in relation to specific architectural settings and has significantly
increased in size.
Potters’ terminology ‘body’ is used to describe the
material from which the sculptures are made and the title is a
reference to my creation of a particular ‘clay body’. Loosely
described as a ceramic terrazzo, the ‘elusive body’ is essentially a
composite clay mix, which has in its makeup aggregates of glass and
ceramic. It is a material that visually reflects my enthusiasm for
the surface qualities found in granites and marbles and their
conglomerates. Its physical characteristics are those of strength
and plasticity, providing the opportunity for the sculptures to be
more extravagant in size than might be expected of objects more
usually made from clay. When ground and polished, the surfaces of
this ceramic terrazzo are exotically tactile, fragmented with
colour, rich and varied in visual texture, with an optical depth
enhanced by the inclusions of glass. Traditional hand-forming and
plaster mould-making techniques were adapted for the construction of
the sculptures.
It is my desire for both the form and surface of
the work to be emotionally satisfying through a visual as well as a
physical sensuality.
The Elusive Body - Felicity Aylieff
My early work is recognisable by the use of heavily
stained clays to make vessels that explored the proportions of
archetypal form - positively defined shapes, clean direct lines and
strong curves. The surfaces were often inlaid with a cocktail of
complex decorative images using agate structures which slowly became
the ‘hallmark’ of my work. Later pieces took on a refinement with a
subtle variation in profile and careful consideration of detail. The
surfaces were more harmonious, with minimal colour and texture. All
the work was hand-built, surfaces were unglazed, simply ground and
polished to a very smooth finish.
It is a frightening moment when you stand back from
your work and see that in many ways you have achieved a certain
technical perfection and that the work has reached a point of
resolution. For me, what ensued was much soul searching and a
serious winter of discontent! However, what emerged was the positive
recognition for the need to develop alternative ways of working in
order to extend and express the nature and range of my ideas and
produce more varied solutions. I viewed it very much as a
continuation and expansion of the previous work and not a reaction
against it.
New interests lay in ideas about sculpture, with a
desire to create objects that shared both decorative and sculptural
concerns. New territory, that I recognised as satisfying a thirst to
create objects of scale, requiring the re-evaluation of ideas and
the development of my understanding of form and its associated
vocabulary. It required a broadening of my technical appreciation,
and the acquisition of further skills. I viewed it as a challenge,
technically, physically, and visually to work in a material normally
associated with objects of table-top size. By considering the
possible location of work beyond the domestic situation, in large
open spaces, interior or exterior, the criteria for my work changed
and it became more liberated in concept. I began to see forms in
architectural space, identifying more with their environment and
relating less to historic ceramic references. The human relationship
in terms of scale, metaphor and association was now more important.
I desired both form and surface to be emotionally satisfying through
a visual and physical tactility.
To make some sense of what I wanted, I returned to
my old haunts in the Victoria & Albert Museum to look at the
Indian and Islamic collections, to the Egyptian rooms and classical
casts in the British Museum, Kew Gardens and the Herbarium in the
Natural History Museum, and also to my many books and photographs of
architecture and artefacts.
This helped to refresh and focus interests which I
identified as being specifically to do with the reflection of
underlying form through surface articulation and structure. I was
curious about its translation and stylisation, especially in the
relief carving, architecture and three dimensional images of
different civilisations. Many of the examples that I was drawn to I
recognised to be rich in natural form which I had previously only
appreciated on a decorative level and used purely as two dimensional
reference material. Much of the Indian carving that I looked at
(particularly that which predates the 11th century) I found both
arresting and powerful with its potent ‘larger than life’ stylised
imagery. From drawings of the natural forms of fruits, seeds and
pods I was able to glean very particular information about
structure. This information, combined with my fascination for Indian
sculpture informs and influences my new work. Both subjects share
the vitality and optimism of life, yet one is the result of a
sophisticated civilisation striving to express human emotion in a
highly stylised way, whilst the other is an equally powerful
expression of life force that does not involve the human hand or
human intention. It is the combination of these elements that I want
to reflect through my sculptures.
The new works formalise and stylise aspects of
nature and have overtones of architectural ornamentation. In
sculptural terms it was my ambition to produce an overall simplicity
where the internal structure was described by strong articulate,
defining lines. It was important that the objects did not acquire a
presence purely by scale alone but through their sense of volume,
fluency and clarity of form and purpose. With this in mind I
personally feel the most successful are Twist and Turn and
Projection. The forms of Spiral and Indian
leaf, (the first pieces to be made) take on a certain ornamental
character which I acknowledge and enjoy since it serves to
re-emphasise their ceramic roots and context and also indulges a
personal fascination for ornamental form.
My early pots sought a marriage between form and
surface through an applied visual texture. The natural progression
was to explore the potential of creating a visual texture that was
inherent in the clay body; the total integration of form and
surface. The new forms are no longer a vehicle for extravagant
decoration; the metaphoric subject matter and large mass demand a
restrained approach, a surface quality more integral with the form
in order that it might promote rather than distract from an overall
coherence. I feel it is important to be able to modify and alter the
visual appeal of the objects, so that one might seem warm and
inviting to touch, another cool and hard. Of great importance to me
is the emotional spirit of the work; it is my desire for both the
form and surface to be satisfying through a visual as well as a
physical sensuality.
Clay remains for me the ideal material; versatile
in its handling and forming potential with body characteristics that
can be adapted and altered in colour, texture and finish. Much
experiment and testing went into the creation of a clay body that
came close to that which I envisaged. I loosely describe it as a
ceramic terrazzo for it is essentially a composite clay mix that has
in its makeup aggregates of glass and ceramic. It is a material that
visually reflects my enthusiasm for the surface qualities found in
granites, marbles and their conglomerates. Its physical
characteristics are those of strength and plasticity, providing the
opportunity for the sculptures to be more extravagant in size than
might be expected of objects made from clay. When ground and
polished, the surfaces are exotically tactile, fragmented with
colour, rich and varied in visual texture, with an optical depth
enhanced by the inclusions of glass.
The use of glass as visual intrigue is instrumental
to the work, producing areas of transparency and depth to what
appears to be a dense mass of fired clay. From the outset I
visualised the surface of the sculptures to be unglazed. They are
already busy with colours and textures produced by the aggregate and
do not need the added distraction of an overall glaze layer. The
clarity and detail of the surface is important, with the individual
aggregated to be distinct within a larger overall context. A glaze
could distract, unify or mute the lively and random qualities that I
am striving to achieve. There are also some practical and physical
considerations involved in this decision to do with the problems of
glazing, handling and firing objects of substantial size and weight.
Once firing the work appears to have all the advantages at this
present time.
In the past I have been totally self-reliant as a
potter, working in a comparatively ‘low tech’ way with minimum
equipment and limited space. I find it quite amusing and at times
frustrating that the situation has almost reversed. I had not
imagined at the outset that working on a large scale would have had
so many unforeseen repercussions. Suddenly I have become aware of
how crucial it is to plan in advance, to know the exact quantities
of materials needed, how much aggregate to prepare, the equipment
required and how, when and where the work is to be made. I now
realise how important it is to co-opt and organise appropriate
assistance for different stages of the work, and manage how it was
carried out. (I often need to employ an assistant.) Lifting and
moving the work rapidly became an issue, heightened when I moved to
a new studio - trolleys had to be constructed to build and move
unfired work, lifting gear and a mini crane to hoist work from
moulds and into kilns, and slings and canvas stretchers made to move
the fired and finished pieces. Access became of major importance;
where pieces were made and dried had to be considered in relation to
door width and kiln accessibility. The kilns themselves had to be of
adequate size and a loading strategy was invariably necessary.
The decision to finish the fired objects by
grinding the surface also had considerable implications. It required
the designing of an appropriate grinding facility and the
installation of water supplies, lighting and drainage. The grinding
itself turned into a major project. The variety of surfaces, curves
and angles in the work all needed particular grinding attachments.
This developed into an interesting two way relationship with the
manufacturers where I tested attachments and adaptions were
made.
I realise how lucky I am to have had so much
encouragement and support from the staff and students at Bath
College of Higher Education where I teach, for it’s not an easy
undertaking working on a large scale but the experience is exciting.
Recently I have made some smaller vessels for an exhibition and I
enjoyed the ease with which they were made. The forms are softer,
the surfaces more harmonious. I look forward to working with a
continued versatility in scale.
Large Scale Ceramics: Scale and Manufacture
The approximate dimensions of the largest sculpture
is 1.4m x 0.75m. The others are almost as big and all have
considerable volume. The technical aspects of construction, using
styrofoam models and plaster moulds, are traditionally based,
modified to accommodate my requirements in scale and the convenience
of working single handed. I made a series of maquettes when planning
the work for the sculptures. Standard practice in some areas of
sculpture, but I had not previously used this approach in my
ceramics. Since the forms were exploring a new personal language
which was not yet part of my established vocabulary I needed to be
confident of the ‘rightness’ of the objects from all their angles
and aspects. The making of maquettes helped me see and understand
the forms I was trying to create in a way that I could not
adequately achieve through drawing alone. I was also aware that
working on a comparatively large scale using plaster techniques
demanded a clearly planned and decisive approach. I used plasticine,
wax and clay for the maquettes, finally choosing the latter as the
easiest and the most successful material to handle.
Enlarging: maquette to model
The full size models I made from styrofoam, a dense
form of polystyrene. This was mainly because it was lightweight and
easy to manoeuvre, necessary requirements for the scale of the
models. I was also curious to work in it as a material,
understanding that I might achieve the precise nature in form and
surface, demanded by maquettes. Other processes used for
enlargements involving armatures of wire coated with plaster or clay
did not have the same handling appeal or versatility and seemed
cumbersome.
Although the enlargement ratio of each maquette
differed, the basic principals for enlargement remained the same for
all three objects. Each maquette was divided into segments in
relating in scale to the thickness of a styrofoam sheet, 11 cms. The
cross-sections of the segments were then enlarged, drawn onto the
form, labelled and cut out on the bandsaw. The corresponding faces
of these pieces were then glued using an impact adhesive
(Tretabond), to achieve a full size model of simplified form.
The first work to be made Spiral and the
maquette to be enlarged was based on a simple cone, whose central
axis made it relatively easy to construct out of a series of
circular foam discs. The complete model was then turned down on a
whirler to the point at which surface detail could be carved. The
following sculptures, Indian Leaf and Twist and Turn
had no such regularity in form and no clear central axis to help
position the foam discs. After grappling with a number of strategies
for their enlargement, instinct led me to carving directly into a
block of foam larger than the overall form of the model. The step
formation given to the model by the glued foam segments made the
early stages of the carving hard work but it was rewarding to see
the form develop and emerge.
Styrofoam
A handsaw was used to take away the bulk of the
styrofoam with details and refinement of surface achieved by using
surforms and fine files. The last model I made had deep ‘V’ sections
in its form and the sides of these sections had a slight camber. To
achieve an accuracy of line in the paring of these I used an
electric carving knife.
Styrofoam is surprisingly resistant to being cut,
lacking any flexibility in its structure, and I found much of the
rough work laborious in its initial stages. It could be described as
a lifeless material, dense and flat in colour. However, in the
context of model making I liked these qualities for it permitted a
total concentration on ‘seeing’ the form, and surface imperfections.
I did have some misgivings about the physical side of working in
styrofoam which was fairly uncomfortable. Cutting dust can irritate
the skin and the fumes created by the hot wire are toxic.
Much of the carving I did by eye after plotting the
high points of the form and taking critical measurements to mark out
its basic structure. By adopting an intuitive approach I could
modify the form as I felt the change of scale demanded. I became
quite skilled in this area of the work and my last model reproduced
the maquette very closely both in measurement and spirit.
A final surface finish to the model was achieved
using sandpaper. It was important for this surface to be smooth, as
texture was to be sought through the clay aggregate and be a visual
texture. Two layers of emulsion paint gave the foam a final seal
making the surface less vulnerable to damage. The paint also drew
attention to any blemishes which were worked over with plasticine.
Each piece of work, from maquette to finished model ready to be cast
as a mould, took between two and three weeks of preparation.
Mould making
The same theory and plaster technique was used for
making all the moulds, but each model had its own idiosyncratic
mould design to accommodate my working independently through all
stages of their construction and subsequent clay use. This demanded
that the individual mould sections be of a size and weight that I
could handle, that the design have no undercuts and allow access to
seams and joints and for the mould to be easy to manoeuvre when
complete. The scale of the models required then to remain static
whilst the mould was made, with the result that much of the surface
to be cast in plaster was in a vertical position. Splash moulding
was the most appropriate technique to use in these circumstances.
Some of the larger mould sections had dimensions of 50 x 40cms; by
using this method of mould making they remained comparatively
light-weight for their size. The moulds took approximately five to
six days to complete and had up to 14 mould pieces. The following
basic procedure was used for their construction:
- 4 cm high walls, from clay strips, constructed around area to
be moulded.
- Clay natches attached to walls at appropriate intervals, to
form mould location points.
- Adjacent plaster sections soft soaped to prevent them sticking
to one another.
- Polythene attached around section to be cast to minimise
plaster excess. Scrim used to strengthen mould sections prepared
(30 cm lengths).
- Splash layer of plaster mixed and applied to form a thin shell
layer of mould. 11 lb 8 ozs (1.60 kgs) plaster to 2 pts (1.1 lits)
water. Crystacal plaster was used in the ratio of 1:2 of potters
plaster to provide a stronger mix.
- Second batch of plaster mixed immediately (recipe as above)
and a layer of scrim dipped in plaster; applied to splash layer .
Remaining plaster allowed to thicken to a double cream
consistency, splashed and spread onto surface to form a total
thickness of approx. 3 cm.
- Plaster surface smoothed over, clay walls removed and mould
edges trimmed and tidied with a knife before next section
assembled.
- Minimal cleaning to the interior of mould on completion.
The first mould, Spiral, established a
technique and method of plaster mould making on a scale I had
hitherto not experienced. The mould was of human scale; in height it
reached my shoulder. It was designed for the mould sections to
release off a spiral form and be self supporting when assembled.
The second mould, Indian Leaf, dealt with
opposite problems. It was designed around a long, horizontal,
shallow form 1.5 x 0.5 m. The mould sections were not self
supporting and required the construction of a plaster jacket to
cradle and hold the mould pieces rigidly in place when in use. In
order that the complete mould could be moved easily a wooden ski
support structure was fixed to the base of the jacket.
The third mould, Twist and Turn, was again
for a horizontal form, but one of much greater volume than the
second and with a twist along its length. The mould design was
potentially quite simple, but for access to the interior at the clay
pressing stage it required setting up vertically with a wooden frame
to support the base section. The result of it being cast vertically
was that many of the mould pieces were leaning 30 degrees away from
the vertical and the method of making these pieces had to be
modified to make them both lighter in weight and to accommodate
dogs, a U shaped metal rod, used to grip the mould sections
together.
Complications
The final removal and support of the clay objects
was difficult to foresee and adapt into the mould design. The clay
remains in the mould for about a week to firm up. The
inaccessibility of the clay pieces once in the mould and their sheer
weight, approx. 100 kgs made their extraction a problem. An engine
crane and forklift were used to aid this operation.
Drying and Firing
Once out of the mould, the leather-hard work is
placed on a cushion of foam to dry. As the forms are completely
enclosed, drying can take anything from six to eight weeks. For the
first few weeks they are wrapped in a layer of newsprint to create
an even drying environment. Newsprint is used in preference to
polythene which has the tendency to cause the clay to sweat and
crack where the moisture falls back on to the outside surface. Two
weeks before firing the newsprint is removed and the work placed in
a well heated room to make sure no moisture remains trapped inside.
To minimise any disaster the firing is cautiously slow taking up to
50 hours to reach temperature (1020 C) with a similar length of time
allowed for cooling. This is unlikely to cause the problem of heat
work since over half the firing is at low temperatures to drive out
hidden moisture, and below the critical temperature of chemical
change. On reaching temperature the kiln is turned off without a
soaking period to ensure firing stability amongst the aggregates,
particularly the glass.
Ceramic blanket is used as a heat shield and placed
between the work and the bottom kiln shelf. Unfired clay props are
used to support the work; on firing these shrink at the same rate as
the objects preventing undue pressure as the work moves. Two
different kilns have been used for the firings, a top hat kiln and a
trolley kiln, both are electrically powered and have kiln beds
designed for the easy access and loading of large work.
Firing Schedule and Clay Body
|
Temperature (°C)
|
Ramp |
Time (in hours) |
Degrees (per hour) |
|
25 |
- |
- |
- |
|
95 |
1 |
8 |
12 |
|
95 |
2 |
8 |
- |
|
200 |
3 |
5 |
21 |
|
400 |
4 |
10 |
20 |
|
600 |
5 |
10 |
20 |
|
800 |
6 |
5 |
40 |
|
1000 |
7 |
4 |
55 |
| |
|
Total 50 hours |
|
Before adulteration the clays that I use are a
variety of imported Dutch Vingerling clays and a number of unrefined
brick clays. Much of the brighter inclusions of colour are fragments
of fired stained porcelain, and the glass is ballontini and
borosilicate glass. To finish the final surface of the work I use an
electric grinder which is water fed and has interchangeable
electroface diamond discs. Because the grinder is water fed the
ceramic surface is well lubricated for more efficient grinding and
dust is eliminated.
Diamond hard pads and files are used for the final
refinement of the surface.
Ceramic Review 165
1997 | 
