She developed clay bodies specifically for soda firings, which provided all the effects she was looking for and continues to make her own clay. Henderson moved to Canberra, to learn more and be with more ceramic artists, and flirted briefly with wood as a firing material, but she felt this didn’t make sense once she was living in suburbia.Īt her teacher’s suggestion, she put a few pots in a soda kiln – and she was hooked with the result. These penetrate the still-porous clay giving different marks and effects on the clay surface. The material used in the process of low-temperature firing, often sawdust or leaves, gives off fumes or vapours. She explains how Henderson discovered “vapour glazes”. In her catalogue essay, Janet DeBoos likens glazes, which are placed over the raw clay form, as a “kind of ‘overcoat’ of colour and decoration applied to the surface, which inevitably conceals as much as it reveals”. Henderson works intuitively – and her pots show a lively spontaneity of glaze and surface. Viewers can see that modest pot at the start of this exhibition. MARYKE Henderson began her life in ceramics while working as a craft aide and made her first pot – a small, round pot – on a wheel.
Photo: Andrew SikorskiĬraft / “Unpredictable: an exploration of soda vapour glazing 2004 – 2022” by Maryke Henderson At Watson Arts Centre until September 11.
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