• Belgium
• Year: 2002

 

The making of the woodfired kiln project

The Foundation

The kiln is built under supervision of Chris. The sides of the kiln embrace the arches.

The furnace is completed. The piece of sculpture will be built on top of the furnace, using scaffolding. Subsequently, the temporary sides of the kiln will be added and the fire will be lit.

From the ground plan, it takes about two months to build-up the piece of sculpture.

A great number of partitions made out of clay supply the piece of sculpture with solidity. The height of two meters is reached.

The hand-crafted piece of ceramic sculpture has just been completed.

Harriet, my trusty companion in the pilot project is sawing blocks of cellular concrete.

The temporary sides of the kiln are added.

The fire, just ignited here, has to remove the remains of the free water from the clay first.

Wood is added every quarter of an hour.

The flames rise above the chimney.

Day breaks seven times during the firing of the kiln.

An extremely tense moment: the removal of the first block of the side of the kiln.

Step by step the sculpture is unveiled.

The piece of sculpture seen from different angles. A more static piece leans against a piece expressing tension and fluid movement.