Hi, it's Chai!
In between the hecticness of work, personal life, and my using whatever free time I have to make pots, it's been a while since I've carved out time to write. Just as winter break began, I got an "assignment though - a high school student found me on social media, and asked to interview me as part of their final project for an art class. Having a specific questions and prompts to respond to made the task of writing much less daunting. Here it is:
How did you first get interested in ceramics, and how did it become a big part of your life?
I took my first wheelthrowing class around 3 years ago. At that point, I was an early career school psychologist and felt a lot of anxiety around my responsibilities and the impact I could have on the educational experiences of children and adolescents. I was anxious, and I was anxious that my anxiety would impact the quality of my work! I had also happened to read the book Beginners: The Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning by Tom Vanderbilt. It encouraged me to get more comfortable with this feeling of being a beginner, embracing uncertainty, and cultivating a growth mindset through learning a new hobby. Having pottery classes to get to and studio time to practice also forced me to leave my work a bit more on time and restore some work-life balance, which was also good for my mental health and work ethic.
What did you study in school, and how do you think that shaped your journey as both a psychologist and ceramicist?
I took many science classes in high school. I read extensively, and chanced upon Psychology Today in my school library. Mostly out of curiosity rather than any concrete career aspirations, I majored in psychology and minored in anthropology during undergrad. Through my part time jobs, I realized that I enjoyed spending time with children, and eventually specialized in school/educational psychology in graduate school to support this population.
The arts were a very small part of my life, and there are times I wonder how much “better” I might be now had I stumbled upon pottery earlier in life. However, as mentioned before, the stress of working as a psychologist drove me to find creative refuge in clay.
Do you think your work as a psychologist influence your approach in ceramics? If so, how?
I think you can see traces of my psychology background in my ceramic art. I have made some pieces that incorporate themes of psychology and mental health (see below). I am hopeful of further combining these two vocations, perhaps through training in art therapy, or studying the psychology of art, or teaching art to neurodivergent folx.
How would you describe your style as a ceramicist? Has it changed over time?
My aesthetic continues to evolve, but there is a throughline of maximalism, complex forms, and asymmetry. The most recognizable of my pieces are probably the double-walled vessels with carvings on the outer wall. This body of work evolved from a summer when I was on break and spent every day at the community studio. Since each member could only fire 40 pounds of clay each month. However, I wanted to create all day every day, I had to find something that was so time-consuming and challenging to make that I would not make more than 40 pounds per month. The guiding question behind my aesthetic decisions has since been “how can I maximize on the fun, learning and technical challenge I can get per pound of clay?”.
Who or what inspires you most when you’re creating a piece?
Overall, I find myself drawn towards ceramica art that makes the viewer pause and take notice. These can be pieces that are a “feast for the eyes” in terms of detail and intricacy, illusions (e.g. making hard ceramic look soft and fluid), or jarring contrasts of texture and form. The artists that specifically piqued my interest in making double-walled vessels are Jordan Coons and Anne Rumpf. A teacher I’ve learned from is Liz Bloomfield. She also infuses her science background into her art, and I’m always impressed by how much research goes into her pieces, as well as the way she integrates her background in biology/science into her art.
Can you walk me through your creative process, from getting an idea to completing a piece? What techniques or tools do you use most often in your work?
I almost always start on the pottery wheel and then alter and embellish the pots via handbuilding. My most recognizable works are all double-walled vessels with carvings and cutouts on the outer wall. Naturally, the tool I cannot live without is a Kemper blade - I cut clay with it and smooth/bevel the edges or carve with the curved end.
What’s the most challenging part of working with ceramics, and how do you overcome it?
The most challenging step in the making process for me is glazing. It is the least predictable and controllable part of the making process, and the most irreversible should mishaps occur. If you end up liking the result, there is also a chance you cannot replicate it again.
I would like to say I’ve overcome it, but I have not! Some things I do that help are being thoughtful about what colors I’d like each piece to be and taking that into consideration when choosing a clay body. Very rarely, usually for commissions, I make test tiles to see what glazes look like so I do not get too unpleasant of a surprise.
What’s your favorite piece you’ve ever made, and why does it stand out?
I think my favorite continues to change as I make more pieces but there are some that have the most personal meaning. Below are two renditions of The Rediscovery of Water, a sculpture that captures my hearing loss, hearing technology, and the mundane sounds of daily life that I lost and found on that journey.
What advice would you give to someone like me who’s just starting out with ceramics?
I want to put a huge disclaimer here and say I am also “just starting out”, but here are some to the things I'm still workign on myself -
Do not be too attached to having a “product” or “something to show” for the time you put into pottery - cut your pieces in half to evaluate your skill, push your clay (and yourself) to find its limits, the more mistakes you make and self-reflection you do, the quicker you will progress. Ultimately the most lasting piece that you will forever be working on is your technique and aesthetic, the pots you make along the way are just artifacts of your growth.
Don’t start introducing extrinsic motivators like selling or social media too soon, or at least be mindful of how they impact you. It’s good to give yourself space and time to explore and develop your own style without the “noise” or interference of what sells or is popular.
Copying and imitation is part of learning, but do not stop there. “Inspiration” is too often misused to refer to replicating somebody else’s art, when really it should be distilling elements that you like from others art as well as other sources (e.g. music, literature, personal experience, nature) and incorporating them into your own art.
Just have fun! Keep trying new things and learning from different sources.
Epilogue
This year, I have had conflicting feelings around my art . One one hand, I'm proud that I make what I enjoy making, and what challenges me. This has pushed me to create pieces that are more and more complex, sometimes conceptual and nonfunctional. Every time somebody tells me "I haven't seen anything like this before" or "How did you make that?", especially if they are also a ceramicist, I feel a bit giddy. On the other hand, I am no longer making (or at least not firing) simpler functional pieces at approachable price points that appeal to most audiences. There is a whole other blog post to be written about those feelings, once I untangle them, but suffice to say that the joy of making has also be tinged with self-doubt and frustration.
All this to say, to have an adolescent I do not know approach me and say, "hey, I'm taking an art class and my teacher wants us to interview an artist we like for our final project, can I ask you some questions?" was probably as helpful to me as it was to them. I was flattered and a bit taken aback that this teenanger saw me as a suitable candidate for this assignment. It shifted my focus from the goals I have yet to achieve, and the long road ahead, to taking stock of the distance I've already covered. And then it also prompted me to wonder - what would adolescent ME think about the psychologist/artist/person I am today? What would I tell them?
I suppose, I would tell her that you just keep chai-ing.
Until 2025,
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