CLAUDIA SONNEK LEVY

I always begin with a piece of clay and an idea of a shape, or sometimes no shape at all. Embracing the fluidity and sensorium of the material between my hands, I allow throwing lines and any marks to remain in the clay. Through my own experimentation with glazes and oxides I’ve developed signature formulas which I apply by hand with cherished 20-year-old brushes. 

Typically working slowly in small groupings of pieces, their development becomes familial, bearing relational similarities and differences. With each piece, or family, my surface applications become more intuitive and less controlled. I practice and refine my intuition toward a final result by applying glaze with the firing in mind. Gauging ideal temperatures per specific clay-bodies through test cones, I prototype clay/glaze relationships while manipulating outcomes by rearranging these relationships under varying conditions. 

Because I constantly evolve my process, no two objects are ever truly alike. I most enjoy this sense of surprise, suspense, and thrill. It motivates me to continue building new bodies of chemical and material relationship.

-Claudia Sonnek Levy