The Lost-Paper Technique

October 28th, 2009 at 01:30pm pksullivan

Frank O. Gehry’s project designer, Craig Webb, offered some insight into how Disney Hall in Los Angeles was conceived. He was quoted in L.A. Magazine:  “…the architecture of this building (Disney Hall) is developed from the inside to the outside. We started with the hall and its acoustics, then designed layer by layer outward, so that the outside of the building is derived from what happens on the inside’.

Although my work is firmly rooted in the tradition of ceramic vessel making, my approach to the vessel is architectonic. I think of my clay sculptures as small-scale architectural works. Even my construction technique lends itself to thinking from the inside out. The first step in my process is to fabricate the paper mold, or armature, from poster board, newspaper and masking tape. This is the internal negative space and support for the plastic clay.

One of the most frequent questions I am asked about my work is: How to you remove the paper armature after enveloping it with interlaced clay coils? The answer, simply, is the lost-paper technique.  When the kiln reaches 450ºF, approximately, the paper begins to burn away, finally revealing the inner volume of negative space.

Entry Filed under: in the studio