Chris Garcia
616 W 207th street, apt. 2J
New York, NY 10034
937-830-8756 (cell)
christopher.garcia@calhoun.org

Fire, Ice and Clay: Ceramics in Iceland

I have left artwork around the world. Some of the work went into private and public collections, but the majority of it was simply abandoned. The reasons the work stays are always the same: The cost and hassle of transport, the work is old, etc.  But, there is one aspect to this art abandonment that I never considered before: Clay is not precious.

I continued this way for years and then I met an artist who really made me step back and redefine my concept of endless clay. I met Icelandic ceramist Kristin 'Isleifsdottir at the International Ceramics Studio in Kecskemet, Hungary. I was interviewing artists for an article about the studio and I sat and spoke to her briefly as she was working. As we spoke, my eyes went from her work to her hands. Between sculpting, she was absently picking up infinitesimal bits of clay from her table and slowly kneading them into bigger balls. When she was done, she held a modest size lump in her hands that she carefully moistened and then wrapped in plastic. In my own studio, I would have swept the tiny pieces up and tossed them, so I asked her why she had saved those morsels. Kristin told me about the preciousness of clay in Iceland. While there are workable deposits of clay in Nýpur on Skardsströnd (a three-hour drive from Reykjavík), Icelandic clay is porous, fires at low temperatures, and is very rich in iron. Because the country is so geologically young, the clay has not had the chance to weather and age like other clay deposits throughout the world. Icelandic artists have experimented with this clay and see its potential, but imported clay and minerals are favored by ceramists and educators.  I thought about my own studio practice and considered how Kristin had combined practicality with a true appreciation of the material itself.