Steven Branfman: New Ceramic Work

LOCATION: Plinth Gallery - 3520 Brighton Blvd

CATEGORY: Art Events

PAST DATE AND TIME:

• Fri, Feb 4, 2022 - Sat, Mar 26, 2022  

Gallery opening First Friday February 4, 6pm-9pm

Steven Branfman received his MAT from Rhode Island School of Design in 1975 and enjoys an international reputation as a clay artist. In 1977 he founded The Potters Shop & School in Needham MA as his studio, pottery school, and gallery. He has taught in several public-school systems, at the college level, and has been teaching pottery at Thayer Academy in Braintree MA for 44 years. Branfman specializes in the process of Raku firing his ceramic work.

Raku Ceramics
Eastern(traditional) Raku…… The pottery is fired in small kilns, one piece at a time or in small batches. The work is fired quickly and removed from the kiln when the ware is deemed ready. This is usually determined by the appearance of the surface. Upon removal, the ware in allowed to cool naturally Branfman practices what can be called "Western Raku. Steven Branfman is part of a late 2nd generation of American Raku clay artists which originally started in the 1940's. "My forms, surface treatment, glaze color pallet, and firing approach, fly in the face, and contradict what is considered familiar and typical Raku pottery, or "eastern raku". So much so that my work is often not immediately recognized as Raku." Western Raku is fired quickly, often many pieces at a time. The ware is fired either according to specific temperature or visual observation. The defining difference between the traditional method and Western method is the introduction of the "post firing" phase where the work is subjected to a variety of treatments as the cooling the ware outside of the kiln. Some of these include spraying with water or other ceramic materials, with the most popular being creating a reducing atmosphere around the piece. This is done by placing the piece in a metal container surrounded by wood chips, sawdust, or another combustible material. Contact with the hot piece ignites the material. Upon ignition, the container is closed creating a carbon filled atmosphere that reacts with the clay and glaze. It is widely believed by scholars that the method of fast firing and cooling that was ultimately appropriated by the architects of Raku, was the practice of itinerant Chinese potters who traveled the countryside and set up short lived temporary pottery shops. They made and fired work and then moved on. This work is referred to as "three color ware."

His Raku ware is in the collections of the American Museum Of Ceramic Art, The Alfred Ceramic Art Museum, the Mungyeong Ceramic Museum, The Crocker Museum Of Art, The Weisman Art Museum, the Fuller Craft Museum, and others. He is the author of four books; Raku: A Practical Approach first and second editions, The Potters Professional Handbook, and his most recent Mastering Raku: Making Ware-Glazes-Building Kilns-Firing. Branfman has written numerous articles for a variety of international ceramics magazines and journals and is a popular workshop presenter in The United States as well as Canada, Mexico, China and Europe.