Lana Wilson
American Masters Exhibit

Lana Wilson Artist Statement

 I definitely love to make stuff. For years I have handbuilt with pieces of clay, arranging them in layers and then making more parts and arranging them yet again. I work until I think I like it and then there is the possibility I might stop. I am greedy for complicated textures, movable doors and drawers, multiple stamped images and unusual glazes that I develop through obsessive testing, changing and retesting. For years ethnic ritual objects have influenced me. With my abiding interests in unusual surfaces and ritual presence, I have made altars, teapots, tableware, multi-layered mosaics and tiles.

Currently I am particularly interested anew in functional ware. I make intricate textures and then use a rolling pin to soften the patterns to a very low relief. After bisquing I paint on black and colored slips and then abrade down the slips so that the texture clearly reappears but is framed in black or colors.

Previous phases in my work have included gas firing for thrown functional stoneware, metallic salts on porcelain, saggar firing with eggshells and kelp, electric fired lichen like surfaces, and glaze testing that produced unusual ceramic colors that were toxic, non-functional and undependable but very interesting. This present period is a change; the new functional work is microwave and dishwasher safe. Is this what happens when you become a grandmother?

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