While working through her masters thesis, recent graduate Liyang Zhang picked up pottery as a hobby. This interest developed into a collection of ceramics characterized by fond memories and endearing imperfections. She coats these hand-crafted objects with washes of earthy glaze, occasionally inviting drips and uneven brush strokes to grace their surfaces. I interviewed Liyang to learn about the process and inspiration for her work at the potter’s wheel.
What lead you to creating ceramics?
[Liyang] I started making pottery a year ago during the beginning of my masters thesis. I felt like all I could do and think about was my thesis so I decided I should pursue a hobby that I could love enough to give up time from working on my project. I chose pottery because there is something liberating and relaxing about being messy and making through feeling and intuition. There are so many talented people in the school who also do pottery and their work inspired me to try it.
What is on your mind when you are shaping an object?
Before I start on the wheel, I often sketch out an idea with approximate proportions and dimensions. I think about the weight and how it would feel in the hands or to the lips. During the process I think about the relationship between my hands and the clay such as the movement and position of my hands and body, the amount of pressure I’m applying, and the speed. Sometimes it feels like meditation.
The colors of your pieces are lovely—how did you develop your color palette?
In the beginning, I experimented with the limited selection of glazes at the pottery studio. I ended up sticking with the more neutral and natural tones like mossy green, rust, and ocean colors.
I associate a lot of my work with landscapes and the places I’ve been. Greenware that’s just been trimmed with layers of dark to light grey tones reminds me of Beijing. My blue rice bowls reminds me of a really cold morning in Venice. The accidental white drips of glaze on a vase reminds me of the snow on the Faroe Islands. The bird-like tea pot reminds me of my Grandpa. Most of my pottery reminds me of somewhere or someone and that makes it hard to give them away. Because they remind me of memories, they always look a bit somber, quiet, and nostalgic.
Do you think your architectural background has shaped your ceramics?
My background in architecture has had more practical influences on my ceramics in the way I think about proportion, form, and detail. I often wonder what it would be like to scale these little vessels to architectural scale and what kind of spaces they could be.
Conversely, do you think creating ceramics has impacted your architectural design work?
My work in pottery didn’t really influence my architectural design work as much as it did the process and the approach. When I first started working with clay, I would be really forceful and impatient when centering or pulling it. I started to learn that sometimes the more force I would apply, the more the clay would misbehave. I realized that I needed to be more focused and patient with my process in pottery and that made me realize I had to do the same in developing my thesis work.
There is an inherent nature in a material or a site or an idea that sometimes can’t be forced to be something you want it to be. I think there must first be an understanding for the material and of the technique, and that’s something I’d like to do eventually in pottery and in certain aspects of architectural design.
In making objects for everyday life, I’ve developed more of an appreciation for mundane things and imperfect details and moments, which has also makes me see spaces differently.
There is an inherent nature in a material or a site or an idea that sometimes can’t be forced to be something you want it to be. I think there must first be an understanding for the material and of the technique…
Is there a favorite object you have made?
A chubby cup with clear glaze on the inside. It sits perfectly in my hands.
What is your next project? Do you have a dream project that you would love to realize someday?
Having moved away from Cambridge and the pottery studio, my next project will depend on where in the world my architecture career will take me and the influences I take from the place. I’d like to experiment with other types of clay and glazes and other methods of working.
At the moment I don’t have a specific dream project, but one day I would like to experiment with ceramics for larger scale projects and experiment with how clay can work with other materials like wood. For now, I want to take the time to learn and be inspired by other ceramic artists.
For more, check out her ceramics Instagram account: liyangz_ceramics
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