On May 25th, 2009, Brigitte Micmacker conducted an interview with Mark Chatterley. Chatterley will open a new solo exhibition of figuartive ceramic sculptures at Sculpturesite Gallery on June 25th: BEINGS -Clay Musings on the Human Condition.
BM: So do you build your clay sculptures using slabs or wide coils?
MC: I use slabs, 5/8 inches thick by 8 inches wide. I have a slab roller that can roll 50 pounds of clay flat at a time.
BM: How do they hold up while they are drying?
MC: I work 8 inches a day on each sculpture, with as many as 12 sculptures going on at one time. I let the clay stiffen up each day so it will support the clay of the next layer. The one problem working this way is I can’t go back and work on the bottom once I reach the top, for it will be dry on the bottom and wet on top. On skinny, tall work I use cement blocks on the outside to support the work as I build. I do drawings for each piece before I start so I know where I am going with the sculpture as I am working.
BM: I understand that you have developed your own clay body that is mixed especially for you. Are you after a certain workability, or strength for the finished sculptures when you determine the properties you want in a clay body?
MC: Clay is such a great material to work with. You can make anything with it. But one problem is in green ware the pieces are fragile, so I add materials to the clay body to give it strength at that stage of work. Another problem is when you fire the work to vitrification, there is a lot of shrinkage. So I add material to help with that. The work still shrinks 10%. Some materials are Kyanite, mullite, grog. Different clays from around the country.
BM: About how much clay do you go through in a year?
MC: 18,000 pounds.
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