The audio file for this article was produced by the Ceramic Arts Network staff and not read by the author.
Ceramics Monthly: What topics are central to your work and/or research as an artist and why?
Gabriel John Poucher: Right now, my work and research center on queer ecology through the lens of ceramic materiality. A central question in queer ecology is what it means for something to be natural, and why so much importance has historically
been placed on that designation. I’m interested in the way that both queer ecological thought and ceramics reject rigid boundaries and emphasize fluidity and transformation as positive, useful, and necessary. Clay and glaze are only separated
by the ratios of their ingredients; the shift from clay to ceramic blurs the boundary of natural and artificial; pieces can be perpetually refired, gaining and losing material, existing in flux. In our current political and ecological landscape, it
feels crucial to probe questions of transformation, boundaries, and entanglement, and I think that ceramics is a compelling medium through which to do it.
1 Gabriel John Poucher's superabundance II, 36 in. (91.4 cm) in width, paper clay (stoneware, porcelain), glaze, underglaze, multiple firings to cones 04–10, 2024.
CM: What techniques do you use to make your work and why?
GJP: I work with paper clay for handbuilding delicate forms and as an adhesive that facilitates collage-oriented construction. I’ll usually start with a chunk of an old project and build directly onto it with fresh clay—I
use paper clay because it can stick to most surfaces, even if they’re bone dry or already fired. I never have a firm idea of what these pieces will look like when they’re finished, and using paper clay as an adhesive opens a lot of possibilities.
It changes my thinking about how a piece could develop as I move back and forth between handbuilding and scavenging; it lets me build in a way that feels very intuitive. I also enjoy the way that the conceptual elements of my work are reflected in
this process—bringing together new and old materials, the microbiological ecosystem of paper clay against the inertness of fired ceramic, and the way that repeated firings transmogrify them into a singular, coalescent object.
2 Gabriel John Poucher's superabundance III, 24 in. (61 cm) in height, paper clay (stoneware, porcelain), glaze, underglaze, multiple firings to cones 04–10, 2024. Photos: Brian Oglesbee.
CM: What strategies have you developed to handle challenges you face, including setbacks in the studio or difficulties along the path to becoming an artist?
GJP: In the studio, I really just try to go with the flow. If I don’t like how something turns out, I can keep building, or put it aside until I need it again for another piece. My first semester of grad school, my advisor asked
me if “collapse was necessarily a parameter for failure,” and that’s really stuck with me. The nature of my work is chaotic and precarious. I can try to push against it, but it’s always more rewarding to see where it wants
to take me.
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The audio file for this article was produced by the Ceramic Arts Network staff and not read by the author.
Ceramics Monthly: What topics are central to your work and/or research as an artist and why?
Gabriel John Poucher: Right now, my work and research center on queer ecology through the lens of ceramic materiality. A central question in queer ecology is what it means for something to be natural, and why so much importance has historically been placed on that designation. I’m interested in the way that both queer ecological thought and ceramics reject rigid boundaries and emphasize fluidity and transformation as positive, useful, and necessary. Clay and glaze are only separated by the ratios of their ingredients; the shift from clay to ceramic blurs the boundary of natural and artificial; pieces can be perpetually refired, gaining and losing material, existing in flux. In our current political and ecological landscape, it feels crucial to probe questions of transformation, boundaries, and entanglement, and I think that ceramics is a compelling medium through which to do it.
CM: What techniques do you use to make your work and why?
GJP: I work with paper clay for handbuilding delicate forms and as an adhesive that facilitates collage-oriented construction. I’ll usually start with a chunk of an old project and build directly onto it with fresh clay—I use paper clay because it can stick to most surfaces, even if they’re bone dry or already fired. I never have a firm idea of what these pieces will look like when they’re finished, and using paper clay as an adhesive opens a lot of possibilities. It changes my thinking about how a piece could develop as I move back and forth between handbuilding and scavenging; it lets me build in a way that feels very intuitive. I also enjoy the way that the conceptual elements of my work are reflected in this process—bringing together new and old materials, the microbiological ecosystem of paper clay against the inertness of fired ceramic, and the way that repeated firings transmogrify them into a singular, coalescent object.
CM: What strategies have you developed to handle challenges you face, including setbacks in the studio or difficulties along the path to becoming an artist?
GJP: In the studio, I really just try to go with the flow. If I don’t like how something turns out, I can keep building, or put it aside until I need it again for another piece. My first semester of grad school, my advisor asked me if “collapse was necessarily a parameter for failure,” and that’s really stuck with me. The nature of my work is chaotic and precarious. I can try to push against it, but it’s always more rewarding to see where it wants to take me.
Learn more on Instagram @gabrieljohnpoucher.
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