Radiant Clay
Glazed Earthenware
2024
Radiant Clay is an ongoing body of work exploring the possibilities of glow-in-the-dark ceramic glazes and the role of participation in activating both the material and the space around it. Through experimentation with rare earth oxides, glaze chemistry, and varied firing temperatures, I investigate how ceramics can transform beyond their visible surfaces and reveal hidden qualities under different conditions.
This project developed through a process of repeated testing, failure, and refinement. Each unsuccessful firing became an opportunity to better understand the behaviour of the materials and the complex relationships between chemistry, temperature, and light. Through this iterative process, I developed a custom glaze that produces vivid fluorescence under ultraviolet light, allowing the ceramic surfaces to shift between states of visibility and concealment.
Beyond material exploration, Radiant Clay becomes an interactive installation that relies on audience participation to fully reveal itself. Under ordinary lighting, the ceramic vessels remain quiet and understated, but when illuminated by ultraviolet light, their hidden colours emerge. The viewer becomes an active participant in the transformation, with individual interactions contributing to the activation of the work as a whole.
Presented at the Night Light Festival, the installation reflects on the relationship between individual action and collective experience. Like the process of developing the glaze itself, the work demonstrates how discovery emerges through experimentation, contribution, and connection. Radiant Clay explores ceramics not only as objects to be observed, but as catalysts for shared moments of wonder and transformation.
This project developed through a process of repeated testing, failure, and refinement. Each unsuccessful firing became an opportunity to better understand the behaviour of the materials and the complex relationships between chemistry, temperature, and light. Through this iterative process, I developed a custom glaze that produces vivid fluorescence under ultraviolet light, allowing the ceramic surfaces to shift between states of visibility and concealment.
Beyond material exploration, Radiant Clay becomes an interactive installation that relies on audience participation to fully reveal itself. Under ordinary lighting, the ceramic vessels remain quiet and understated, but when illuminated by ultraviolet light, their hidden colours emerge. The viewer becomes an active participant in the transformation, with individual interactions contributing to the activation of the work as a whole.
Presented at the Night Light Festival, the installation reflects on the relationship between individual action and collective experience. Like the process of developing the glaze itself, the work demonstrates how discovery emerges through experimentation, contribution, and connection. Radiant Clay explores ceramics not only as objects to be observed, but as catalysts for shared moments of wonder and transformation.