Earth & Fire

Earth & Fire
Kylie and Tiffany Johnson
Thames & Hudson

Reviewed by Emma-Kate Wilson

Written by sisters Kylie and Tiffany Johnson, their second book examining the handcrafted, Earth & Fire introduces the reader to forty-five active ceramicists, their thoughts, materials, and processes when working with their chosen medium.

The foreword, written by Melbourne-based, Thai-born ceramicist Vipoo Srivilasa, offers a preparatory insight into the book’s anticipated content, which delves deep into artists’ studios and their kilns to explore the magic behind ceramics, from the plasticity, kneading, or throwing of material to the extreme pressures and firing of high temperatures, all to create something durable and nearly impermeable, but more importantly, something still fragile full of beauty and meaning.

Split into six main chapters (following the foreword, introduction, and two insightful essays on clay – written by ceramists), the book takes shape in two sections of ‘Earth’ and ‘Fire’, dividing artist practices into Throw, Hand, Cast (all within Earth) and Flame, Mark, Form (within Fire). Each chapter evoking a multitude of inspiration different from the last – images of shelves filled with a visible comparison of pre- and post-production products; from the functional to the decorative, the book explores the varying aesthetics and approaches. For example, glazes render vessels into abstract art, some dripping with a multitude of hues, sparkling in the light as the colour reflects the chemical reaction within; others reveal still life paintings or patterns found in the earth. In contrast, their surfaces are either rich with texture and mark-making or smooth, crisp, and clean.

Earth & Fire celebrates a new ceramic renaissance, a renewed interest and love of the handmade as well as the depth of clay – the politics, beauty, humour, and activism – a window into human existence.

 

Originally published in Art Almanac’s June 2023 Print Issue 

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