Jayson Lawfer
"A Maecragus Dream"

Porcelain soda fired, 2002, 10”x 19”x 6” (base), 6 ½”x 5”x 3 ½” (sugar basin), 4 ¼” x 7”x 3 ¼” (milk pitcher)

Montana Museum of Art and Culture, Student Works Collection, Purchase, Campus Art Award

Artist Statement
Dealing with my immense interest in clay, glazes, and slips, I explore a vast array of high-fire techniques and try to fuse them into a singular piece of complexity. I approach the glazing and body surface of my functional work with the help of salt, soda, and/or wood added to the firing at temperatures exceeding 2300ºF. Each piece is thrown on the wheel and then subjected to an altering process to become its own conclusion. I find that is very important to show the degree of difficulty that I attempt to push clay and the amount of psychological purging that rests behind my ideals involved in developing each piece. With the possibilities in ceramics being so infinite and enduring, it is the art medium that captures my pursuit. “As an artist, one must be sacrificed to his art. Like a bee, he must put his life into the sting he gives.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson.

©University of Montana Museum of Fine Arts file photograph