Shaping Fluid by Christina Schou Christensen

Ceramics by Christina Schou Christensen somehow resemble both everyday sights like melted chocolate and alien visions of life on Mars. Documented in the video of MINDCRAFT13 in Milan, Christina’s secret is twofold. First, she blends her own recipe of glaze, or “Shaping Fluid.” Then, rather than uniformly painting her clay, she applies glaze to areas that she wants to come alive in the process of firing. In the video, Christina daubs some glaze onto the bottom of a bowl and pours the rest inside. She then arranges her firing tools so that the decorated bowl rests above the floor of the kiln, allowing the glaze to drip downward and harden in a stalagmite-like shape. Turning the heat up to a scorching 1280°C, Christina lets science take over, allowing the temperature inside the kiln and the individual melting point of this batch of “Shaping Fluid” to interact and determine the look of the finished ceramic. The unpredictability of the glaze is creatively freeing, and Christina likens this release to the “drafting” process in writing. Ultimately, by playing with control and chance, Christina has chemistry guide and alter her art, and, despite the uncertainty inherent in her method, the outcome is seemingly destined to catch your eye. See more of her work here.