Portrait of a Kiln: Jesus Minguez III
Jesus Minguez III
Christmas, Florida
Dimensions Variable,
Currently researching & developing small, efficient and accessible atmospheric kilns
Jesus Minguez began his relationship with wood fired and atmospheric kilns during his time at Dr.Phillips high school in Orlando, Florida. Under the tutelage of the ceramics instructor at the time, Mike Lalone, Minguez not only developed skills in making objects from clay, but entrenched himself in the process of firing the catenary arch wood/salt kiln and a Minnesota flat top fast-fire kiln that Lalone had somehow managed to build and fire for over a decade at a high school in the city of Orlando under the auspices of the Orange County Public School system.
His relationship with fire and clay brought him to meet and fire alongside a number of local and regional potters and eventually exercise some of his own ideas and ambitions through the building, altering and rebuilding of a series of small kilns from 2007-2013.
Since then, Minguez has focused primarily on smaller scale, unique kiln builds that are guided by what he needs or imagines them to do in the time he wants, or has available, for those needs to be met. His approach to building is fueled by curiosity and seeking of answers. Ceramic materials can be hugely affected by the manner in which they are fired: atmosphere, placement in the kiln, time and duration of each firing and cooling cycle. These variables, alongside the requirement to build and operate a kiln within the boundaries of working in the city and firing between employment/s and engagements and responsibilities have led his current working designs to be small, efficient, accessible and simple builds that can be built, broken down or modified with more more ease that traditional approaches to masonry and refractory construction.
Echoing the non-descript tag in the name & location text above, Jesus’ approach to kiln building could be summed up in this simple rhyme: “Soup of the Day, Flavor of the Month, Jesus Builds Kilns However He Wants.”
