Chloe Kobernuss Ceramic Works

Sculptural

Corporeal exploration set in movement. I work instinctively through contours, gradually finding rhythm for each piece, and formed until the dance is complete. A conversation in tension and stillness, and a need for expression that words won't land on.

Meaning often arrives through process and is always shifting.

Thrown Vessels

My thrown work has become an exercise in meditation, production, and constrained simplicity. Making circles is quite enjoyable. What matters deeply to me is how the work feels in your hand, in its vitrified state as much as on the wheel. The tactile nature of the material carries through, asking to be used and held.

Surfaces & Finishing

I've been playing with fire, specifically woodfiring and soda firing. What draws me in, beyond my vibrant firing community, is the beautiful lack of control. The atmosphere does what it wants with results that are always a surprise.

The kiln does the glazing in atmospheric firing. Wood ash and soda vapors are carried and painted by flame, landing on bare clay, flashing slips, and glazes. Leaving marks no brush could create and variation no recipe could repeat.

These atmospheres achieve a surface that is incomparable, a depth and layering that no other process can touch. My work is built so the fire has something to hold on to and somewhere to move. A dance with an unpredictable partner.