The Churning of the Cosmic Ocean

The Churning of the Cosmic Ocean - Ceramic pot

Like “The Infinite Ocean”, this is one of the few pieces I made with a cone 6 “porcelain”. I put that word in parentheses because ceramic artists who primarily use porcelain seem to consider the cone 6 variety not quite kosher. I won’t enter into that conversation since I would betray my ignorance. However, working with this white body is very different from my usual red or brown stoneware. I think of it as the difference between painting with watercolor (white clay body) and painting with oil (red or brown clay body). The light clay is like the paper seen through watercolors. It lightens everything and often creates a more pastel-toned palette. The Churning of the Cosmic Ocean refers to a Hindu creation story. This piece is one of the few pieces that I finished with wax encaustic instead of glaze. Encaustic was the paint medium that the Greeks used to color their marble statures, so it’s not so unusual to think of it coloring a ceramic piece.

16″ x 13″

Porcelain, Gouache, Wax Encaustic

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