Formal Transformation and Conceptual Expression of Firing Traces in Modern Ceramic Art

Abstract

Firing traces in modern ceramic art is usually considered as firing defect but can also be used separately on form language and concept expression. Generative logic of thermodynamic imprints, natural textures, shrinkage cracks were analyzed through three aspects (material basis, formal reconstruction, and conceptual projection); the abstraction of traces, time superimposition, and the dialectical relationship between uncontrolled traces and order have been further explored; furthermore, the meaning of traces as evidence of process, the aesthetics of imperfection as a carrier of contingency, and the translation of symbolization and individual memory have been elucidated. We have proven that formal transformation of firing traces depends on a hierarchy of materiality to grammar and then to metaphor providing ceramic art with its own surface language system different from glaze painting and sculpture.