Sculpture Source

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.