Portrait of a Kiln: May Wong
May Wong
Stuart, Fl
Gas / Wood / Soda Kiln
Kiln, Boat, Piano
A new KILN imagined, sketched, calculated.
Wood measured, cut and joined.
Brick stacked and skin coated.
It seems very much like building a BOAT or a PIANO.
A big piece of functional sculpture.
The intention of the craft is the same;
to build an instrument that offers service and journey and escape.
The act of firing a kiln seems to relate to sailing and to making music too;
A voyage conducted by wind (very hot wind in this case), with slow, steady passage, or gusty allegro.
Each journey has it's distinct tempo and challenge,
Listen carefully and it will bring you closer to perfect harmony.
(Partly borrowed from "Playing Piano for Pleasure" - Charles Cooke)
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I have been playing with “clay” since very young, but “flame" much later. It was a trip to the hometown of porcelain, Jingdezhen, China; visiting some ancient old wood kiln, that helped me to realize, “Atmospheric Firings”* are not something new; people have been manipulating firing atmospheres for a thousand years.
However, Hybrid kiln (gas + wood + soda) firing is relatively new in the history of atmospheric firing, which is introducing Soda ** and wood into the kiln, at white hot temperature. Sodium vapor glaze and wood ash creates unique, unpredictable distinct color variations and texture on different clay surfaces.
Atmospheric firing is a dynamic process; there’re many variables such as kiln temperature, air intake, timing and amount of wood/soda introduction, the specific composition of clay and glaze used, even weather will have a great effect on the result.
Since there are so many factors in the firing that are beyond my control, I was thinking “kiln design and building” is the one variable I could have some degree of control: by building my own kiln, in my backyard, by myself. So, I built a kiln which I can physically fit inside to stack and clean, but not too big that is overwhelming with work loads.
As a sailor, I see myself sail out with a whole vessel of pots, through different long passages, and always land in some strange lands least expected.
* I found this google definition very poetic; "Atmospheric firings show the path of heat, flame, ash and vapor traveling through the kiln, much like water down a river, moving over, around and under the clay, finding the path of least resistance with occasional meanderings.”
** Mix of Soda; Soda ash Na2CO3 and/or Baking Soda - Sodium bicarbonate; NaHCO3, in dry or wet form.