Instead of relying on a mould or the force of a wheel, coiling (as with slab-built ceramics) requires only the artist’s steady hand to shape the vessel’s form.
Finnish artist Kristina Riska’s work recalls the craftsmanship and artistry of Jōmon pottery. She employs the ancient process of coiling and achieves the same duality between an object’s functionality and decorative purpose. Like the ceremonial vessels of the Jōmon period, Animal(2014) appears both strong and delicate. Instead of relying on a mould or the force of a wheel, coiling (as with slab-built ceramics) requires only the artist’s steady hand to shape the vessel’s form. As much of Riska’s work is large-scale (some objects reach as high as eight feet), the long and meticulous process of creating it would seem painstaking, but the artist finds it meditative. “The process is very slow and it takes weeks to finish the piece,” she says. “The quiet hours of building are what I enjoy the most. Silent days in the ateljee, the view from the window every day different, changing seasons from winter to summer—day after day.”