Lookout Sculpture
Park in Damascus, Pennsylvania, enthusiastically celebrated the first
firing of its anagama kiln in July 2005. This firing was the culmination
of a multi-year saga of petitioning for township permits, scrounging
materials, acquiring essential expertise, and building a community of
artists to make works, chop wood, and stoke the kiln. An anagama kiln
is a wood-fueled kiln of a type used for centuries in Japan. Building
and firing an anagama kiln is much more difficult than using commercially-available
gas or electric kilns, so it takes real vision and commitment to do
anagama firing. Proponents love the unpredictable and often very beautiful
effects of fire and wood ash upon their works. Since the 1970s an increasing
number of American and European artists have been drawn to anagama firing.
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The building
of the kiln at Lookout Sculpture Park was directed by Susanne Wibroe-Fost,
Director of Lookout Sculpture Park, and her husband Laurent, with the
assistance of Ryusei Arita, a ceramic artist and master kiln builder.
A student and protégé of Peter Voulkos, Wibroe-Fost hoped to continue
Voulkos’ legacy of openness, creativity and experimental energy at Lookout
Sculpture Park. In pursuit of this vision, she purchased extensive acreage
in northern Pennsylvania more than 20 years ago. In short order she
built an enormous studio for herself and equipped it for making large-scale
steel sculpture. She also carved out a warren of sleeping quarters to
house visiting artists, and began to renovate the main house as her
home. Organized as a not-for-profit institution, Lookout Sculpture Park
has for many years offered summer residencies to sculptors, whose works
in wood, metal and found and organic materials soon began to populate
the rolling meadows and the banks of the shimmering pond. An impressive
international roster of sculptors has participated in the summer residencies
and Lookout has also offered programs to local schools and camps.
Wibroe-Fost
had long hoped to add ceramics to the materials that she and visiting
artists could explore. Despite severe financial constraints, she managed
to scavenge or purchase at nominal cost a vast array of refractory bricks,
potters wheels, assorted glaze chemicals and tools that she warehoused
in the barn while she and Lookout’s volunteer legal counsel Curt Hemlepp
sought township permission to build the kiln. Finally, she was able
to pour the foundation of the kiln in 1997. In a stroke of good fortune,
Wibroe-Fost also reconnected with Ryusei Arita, another Voulkos protégé,
who had decades of experience in building and firing his own kiln in
the mountains near San Francisco. Arita agreed to help design, build
and supervise the firing of the Lookout kiln, and came to Pennsylvania
in the summer of 2003 with his assistant Hitoshi Ito to begin the process.
Over the course of 2003 and 2004 the kiln began to take shape, and in
the summer of 2004, with the main vault in place, the kiln was dedicated
to “the spirit of Peter Voulkos” and in memory of Curt Hemlepp. In Spring
2005, work on the kiln began again with renewed enthusiasm. The chimney
was built, the vault was insulated, and a roof was built to offer protection
from the weather. Arita arrived in July with ceramic artists Conrad
Calimpong and his son, Granite, both experienced in wood firing at their
own kiln in California, to help manage the firing.
Three tons of clay, mixed according to Peter Voulkos’ recipe, had been
delivered and guest and local artists set about making vessels and sculptures
to be fired. Watching other artists at work was inspiring and challenging.
One artist, Volkan Otugen, said: “The expansiveness of the site, the
capacity of the kiln, and the availability of tons of clay encouraged
me to work much larger than had been my prior practice in the more cramped
environs of Greenwich House Pottery in Manhattan. Once I saw what Ryusei
and Conrad were doing, I thought to myself: ‘I’ve got to work a lot
bigger.’ It was great, too, to have east coast and west coast artists
working together.”
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Once the
new work had dried sufficiently, the vases and plates, teabowls and
sculptures, were placed in the kiln and the firing commenced, initially
at a low temperature to drive off any residual moisture, and then at
increasingly high temperatures over the course of six days and nights
up to 2300 degrees Fahrenheit. Crews were in charge of stoking the kiln
every few minutes. After a three-day cooling period, the kiln was opened
to reveal a pile of cinders and soot through which one could discern
the forms of the vessels and sculptures. Carefully lifted from their
ashy beds, the works were enthusiastically greeted by their makers and
a number of interested onlookers, all mesmerized by the transformation
that the raw clay had experienced. “I greatly enjoyed the spirit of
community and cooperation that this woodfiring project engendered, as
well as its novelty and unpredictability,” said Cecily Fortescue. She
continued: “I had never been involved in a woodfiring before, and it
would seem that even the experts never quite know what the results will
be. Looking through the main stoke hole at that glowing inferno, it
seemed to me a miracle that a pot could even survive such fiery treatment.”
Naomi Teppich says, “My favorite part of doing anything in clay is creating
the form rather than painting on glaze. So the anagama process afforded
me this luxury of placing my piece in the kiln and having it come out
with an interesting finish without the need for glaze or oxides.”
Neighbors Catherine and Travis Hemlepp, who are avid art collectors
and supporters of Lookout Sculpture Park, were involved spectators in
the firing from beginning to end. “We were very impressed by the dedication
and enthusiasm of the artists who participated,” they said. “We deeply
regret that Curt, who passed away two years ago, was not here physically
to witness the dramatic result of his efforts to make the kiln a reality.
We_re certain, however, that he was here in spirit.”
The works ranged from large vases and vessels to small sake cups; some
had been decorated with stamped impressions, freehand drawings, shino
glaze and slips, and rice straw, while others depended upon strength
and purity of form for their appeal. The natural ash glaze created by
the firing resulted in gritty black alternating with warm browns and
tans, sharkskin grey, and flashes of gold, peach and even purple.
New York artist Risa Hirsch Ehrlich said: “The invitation to share in
the firing was unexpected and the opportunity was unique. I have been
working seriously in clay since 1997, doing electric and gas firing
and some raku work as well, but an anagama wood firing was something
unheard of among my fellow artists because it is almost impossible to
pull together, unimaginably so if you are a city artist. I accepted
the invitation to join the group with enthusiasm and gratitude, even
if my only applicable skills were splitting and stacking wood and occasionally
fetching water or lemonade. It was wonderful to meet and share with
dedicated local artists, but I felt particularly privileged to spend
time with the West Coast trio whose background and sensibilities brought
a Japanese respect and flavor to their work-- for today it is as if
Japanese ceramics is the mother to us all.”
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Jim Raglione
had about 40 “pinch pots” in the anagama firing. Raglione notes that
the application of the insulation to the kiln was very labor intensive.
“I’ve learned one thing for sure” he says, “and that is that you have
to make sure all your firewood is well-stocked and well-stacked prior
to the firing. In the week before we fired the kiln a lot of time and
muscle was devoted to preparing the wood, and I was concerned that people
would no longer have the enthusiasm and energy to continue.” Raglione’s
discipline is to make one pinch pot a day and he has been doing it for
more than 4 years. He now has well over 1,000 pots all marked with the
date they were made. His works assert the primacy of human touch over
the bland anonymity of mass production. “Each time I make a pot I think
‘this will be better than the last one,’” says Raglione. “It is interesting
to see how my technique has changed over the years.”
Wibroe-Fost expects that the kiln will attract ceramic artists of international
stature and hopes Lookout will eventually offer workshops and international
residencies in ceramics, as it has in sculpture. Future plans call for
the creation of a metal foundry at Lookout, offering new possibilities
to established and emerging artists. She notes how important the help
and support of the local community has been to her efforts. “I have
so many people to thank,” she says. After 20 years, our work has only
just begun. I thought I was building a kiln, but I found that I was
actually building a community. The kiln brought together a group of
artists, writers, gallery directors, and collectors who all have become
committed to the success of Lookout Sculpture Park. I feel deeply grateful
and very optimistic about our future.”
Her words are echoed by many of the participants. Tom and Jane Biron
said, “The whole kiln experience was so much more than the firing of
a few pots. Suzy’s sense of community inspired everyone who took part.
We’ll never be able to look at fire and clay the same way again.” Kristin
Muller, who fires her own anagama kiln near Dingman’s Ferry, came to
offer her support during the firing and said: “Lookout Sculpture Park’s
anagama is a magnificent kiln. Built in the Momoyama period style, it
is elegant and powerful. Everyone involved in the firing was excited
and enthusiastic about helping Ryusei Arita reach temperatures of over
2300 degrees Fahrenheit. The kiln is situated perfectly on a hill overlooking
outdoor sculptures by different artists that span beyond your field
of vision.
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You simply
cannot help feeling inspired by the Park and the people. Suzy has succeeded
in creating a haven for artists, a community that is supportive of the
creative spirit and that invites everyone to participate. Her visionary
openness to art and the community and the scale of the project at Lookout
Sculpture Park should be experienced by everyone.”
Ceramics
from the first firing were exhibited in August 2005 in a group show
at the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance gallery in Narrowsburg, New York,
and subsequently some of the work was included in the Catskill Arts
Society “Color and Craft” exhibition, October 2005, in Hurleyville,
NY.
For more information about Lookout Sculpture Park contact Susanne Wibroe-Fost
at suzywibroe@freesurf.fr
Participants in the firing:
Susanne Wibroe-Fost, Director, Lookout Sculpture Park
Ryusei Arita, Master Kiln Builder and ceramic artist
Jane and Tom Biron
Conrad Calimpong
Granite Calimpong
Risa Hirsch Ehrlich
Cecily Fortescue
Hitoshi Ito
Noriko Itzuka
Kristin Muller
Volkan Otugen
Patricia Pelehach
Jim Raglione
Naomi Teppich
About
the author: Patricia Pelehach is a ceramic sculptor and art critic whose
reviews and artist profiles have appeared in Ceramics: Art and Perception
and American Ceramics. She lives and works in Brooklyn Heights, NY,
and Pleasant Mount, PA.
