Jessica Drenk

Jessica Drenk
Swab Skin

A few months ago, Jen introduced me to Jessica Drenk's work. A series of work by Jessica Drenk inspired me to begin experimenting with dipping organic material in clay slip. The sculpture to the right titled "Swab Skin" by Drenk is composed of cotton Q-tips that have been dipped in porcelain slip and joined together and fired, creating a cloud-like shell of the Q-tips' remains. Other pieces in the series were created by similar processes using similar organic material such as cotton balls and coffee filters.

Drenk's work led me to a local ceramic supply warehouse where I acquired my own supply of porcelain slip to try the process out on my own. I decided to use cotton yarn which had been soaked in slip which I then wrapped around long, skinny balloons. After allowing the slip to dry, I slowly deflated each balloon, which then tampered with each cylinder's shape. I wasn't sure whether or not the pieces would maintain their structure and was afraid I hadn't allowed the yarn to become well enough saturated by the slip to prove successful . My experiment yielded the following results:

 

 

I then decided it might be interesting to use the bisque-fired pieces to experiment with a little color treatment, and applied underglaze and low-temperature clear glaze to a few of the samples.

 

 

 

In addition to the yarn, I also experimented with coating a few doilies in slip. The results were not quite as successful as my yarn samples. Although they maintained integrity, the bisque-fired pieces are extremely delicate and paper-thin. I was impressed that the pieces were able to stay intact!

A few weeks ago at my job on campus, I came across a discarded piece of packing material that looked like the paper equivalent of expanded metal fiber. I decided to inflate another balloon and wrapped a piece of the paper around it, which I then used a clear thread to sew together so that it would not unravel while I dipped it in slip. Here is a shot of the form right after I had given it a dunk:

 

 

The piece made it through the initial firing and I was very happy with the result:

 

 

I decided to use the studio spray gun to apply some colored underglaze as well as clear glaze. Here is a shot of the piece right before I applied a coat of clear glaze:

 

 

I should be able to retrieve the glazed pieces from the studio tomorrow, so hopefully they made it through a second firing! It will be interesting to see how color will change each form. All of the pieces are extremely delicate and I hope they will be stronger with the glazes I have applied.