09/04/2024
Join artist Alex Simpson in this 3-week workshop navigating the porcelain capital of Jingdezhen. Together we will step out of our artistic comfort zone and explore new ways of making in collaboration with a city of skilled artisans. We will draw inspiration from the accumulation of 1700 years of porcelain production and history. Through an extensive program of workshop visits and in-studio instruction you will experience a breadth of techniques and technologies, from ancient to cutting edge, in a city where nearly anything imaginable is possible in clay. A focus of the residency will be on embracing the access to a wide range of ceramic processes and specialists unique to Jingdezhen. We will discover through collecting, combining, curating and intervening how traditional and modern ways of ceramics can be blended into your own specific approach to making art in the city. Using porcelain in all its states whether plastic, liquid, bone dry or dust we will experiment, accepting uncertainty while following the material and the skilled hands of the artisans we work with. As we traverse the city we will gather inspiration, materials and ideas to bring back to the studio. We will discuss how our personal narratives and experience of place influence the work we make. Through conversation, mentorship and making you will develop your practice and define concepts and processes which can be brought home to inform your work going forward.
In-studio lessons include blue & white painting, bone-dry carving, handbuilding techniques, concept generation and refinement, and personalized instruction based on individual goals. Outside industrial process visits include ceramic 3d printing, water-jet cutting, ceramic CNC milling, decal production, large scale ceramic production, and factory ceramic production. Artist and artisan workshop visits include throwers, mold makers, casters, carvers, slab makers, painters, and studio ceramic artists from around the world. Visits to cultural and scenic spots and a closing exhibition for all involved artists will round out the session.
