1980’s Christine LePage Large Disc Ceramic Sculpture With Female Side View

Unique Christine LePage Disc Ceramic Sculpture with a female side view.

About her process:
The artist’s work is low-fired and …
Unique Christine LePage Disc Ceramic Sculpture with a female side view.

About her process:
The artist’s work is low-fired and unglazed. They are burnished with a stone when partially dry, and then painted with a refined clay slip called terra sigillata, or “earth seal.” This slip was used by ancient Greek, Roman, and South American Indian potters. After being fired the pieces are placed in arrels with straw and sawdust. The sawdust is ignited from the top and smolders for three to twelve hours. The carbon from incomplete combustion impregnates the porous clay surfaces, causing the white slips to turn black. On some of the pieces there is evidence of a hotter, faster firing, and marks of the flame result from the ignited straw re-oxidizing the black surfaces. Because of the nature of the firing, these pieces must remain porous. They are not designed to contain water, or to resist abrasion by sharp objects.”