MAREK PITERA
My work begins as a fleeting psychological impression before it fully resolves into thought or emotion captured as a set of loose drawings made without predetermined imagery or symbolism. These sketches function less as blueprints than as attempts to register this fragile impression before it fully resolves.
Each piece captures a unique impression which is translated into clay through coiling. The freedom and immediacy of this method allows direct negotiation with plastic clay, allowing form to evolve gradually through reduction and intuitive adjustment. Contrasting clay bodies are blended and layered within the structure of each piece so that shifts of tone and texture become integral to the form, their boundaries preserving traces of the clay’s plasticity before its metamorphosis in the kiln.
Commercial stoneware bodies are combined with locally sourced London Clay gathered close to the studio. The clay originates from deposits formed during the Eocene, when subtropical forests covered what is now London. Nearby sites also contain evidence of Iron Age pottery production, embedding the work not only within its physical home, but within a much longer continuity of forming, handling and firing earth. Rich in iron and lime, this challenging yet rewarding material produces richly varied tonal responses while establishing a direct material relationship between the work and its place of making.
The work is gas fired in neutral to light reduction, where heat and atmosphere transform the clay body and dissolve mineral oxides into the ceramic matrix. This process deepens tonal variation and produces surfaces ranging from silken smoothness to coarsely abrasive. Texture is an extension of form itself, shaping the tactile and psychological presence of each piece.
The final stage is polishing, in which I selectively abrade the surface of each piece with diamond to create gradients of texture and reveal denser tonal layers within the ceramic body. Each piece is then sealed with a thin layer of linseed oil to enhance tonal and tactile contrast.
