Tips and Tools: Space and Light Cristina Córdova

Appears in the November 2023 issue of Ceramics Monthly.

Setting up your own studio to fit your personal creative practice is both rewarding and creatively nourishing. Discover how work surfaces, lighting, and atmosphere all contribute to a better space. 

Sculpting in clay is delightfully simple. It can be done without a specialized space or elaborate tools. All you truly need are clay, water, and some inspiration. That said, understanding how to prepare your workspace to both safeguard your health and optimize your creative output will help you nourish an effective studio practice. To me, a studio is successful when it is safe, environmentally aware, and streamlined to fit your needs. 

Studio Setup 

After years of working on sculptural ceramics, I feel there are several key considerations that ensure the safest, most productive time in the studio. In this article, we will not only address the equipment I use, but also important considerations like lighting, work surfaces, and safety. 

Safety In the Studio 

It is important to work in a space that has good air quality and proper ventilation, particularly with respect to kilns and glaze mixing. My kilns are on an outside covered porch that wraps around my studio, so fumes and gases are dispersed and do not enter the work area. If the kiln you will be using is located indoors, there are several downdraft and updraft kiln venting systems that you can purchase and hook up to your kiln to keep off-gassing chemical compounds out of your workspace—and lungs. 

Although I do not mix my own clay, I routinely mix slips and glazes. When measuring and combining the dry materials that go into my glazes and slips, I work outdoors in my spray booth while wearing a respirator. I keep my respirator on until the glaze is hydrated and thoroughly integrated. The spray booth offers a contained space with good light and an exhaust system to move the particles away as I work. 

Inside the studio, I do not have any special ventilation other than a gentle cross draft from open windows and doors during the warmer months. To keep dust down, I try to tidy the floor after each sculpting session with a wet rag and a dustpan. Cleaning scraps while they are still wet helps to contain the dust that ensues when clay dries and becomes pulverized. 

Periodically I will do a deep cleaning. First, I move through the studio, picking up large scraps of clay with my wet rag. Next, I use a hose to pour water onto my concrete floor and then use a squeegee to push that water into a trap with a drain at the center of the workspace. If your workspace has no clay trap, you can achieve the same results with a wet/dry vacuum. Mopping takes more time but is also a good option. 

Sweeping is best avoided as it is an easy way to generate minute silica particles airborne and compromise your workspace. Unless I am using some sort of sweeping compound, which helps to capture the clay and dust particles, I do not sweep under any circumstances. Long-term exposure to clay dust can have cumulative, irreversible effects. I urge you to bring mindfulness into your studio routine by implementing simple cleaning strategies to keep yourself and everyone who enters your space healthy.

Work Surfaces 

In my studio, I work on either a sculpture stand or one of several rolling tables with sealed plywood tops. All of my work surfaces are easy to clean and move around. I am 5 feet 4 inches (1.6 m) tall, and my 36-inch (91-cm) tables come up to the level of my hips, which works well for me. When sculpting from photographic references that I have taped to my wall at the same height as my sculpture, I use a wooden sculpture stand with a rotating top. Built onto casters so that it can be easily moved into alignment with a particular reference image, my sculpture stand can also be adjusted to come up or down as needed. For larger pieces, I use a steel turntable with a circular wooden base. 

When looking to purchase a sculpture stand, you will find a wide variety available. These range from basic wooden stands that hold around 80 pounds (36 kg) to heavy-duty crank stands that can hold upward of 700 pounds (317 kg). When making your selection, ensure that the stand you choose is rated to hold the weight range you will be sculpting in. 

For sculpting figures, I recommend you work on a rotating surface at the height of your photographic references. You want the top of your sculpting surface to line up with the bottom edge of the images. The idea is to be able to look through the sculpture and onto the references. I find that using an adjustable sculpture stand on casters near a wall offers the most effective way to easily move across your line of photo references, making adjustments and building accuracy as you go. I also like being able to move the piece to different parts of the studio to refresh my perception by viewing the work at a distance or in different light. As an alternative to a sculpture stand, you can place a turntable or banding wheel on top of a table that is located in front of the vertical surface where your photographic references are hung. 

Lighting 

A critical part of the sculptural process, lighting is what allows your eye to discern and articulate forms effectively. Make sure you work in a well-lit space to optimize your ability to understand and develop volumes. I am always blown away by the impact good lighting can make in both helping me understand the ins and outs of a composition and keeping my eyes and brain fresh throughout a long workday. 

Diffused natural light is the best option, but adding in some artificial boosts can help create a bright environment that will enable you to sculpt with clarity and ease. I like to use clamp lights with 10-watt daylight LED bulbs to compensate for low or shifting natural lighting in my studio. Sometimes I put these lights on stands, and sometimes I clamp them to ceiling beams. Note: I try to avoid harsh lights, particularly ones coming from side angles, as these can confuse the eye’s ability to decipher forms. 

Cristina Córdova is a contemporary artist and sculpting instructor whose work is collected around the world. She is featured in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, among others. She is the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including the Virginia Groot Foundation Recognition Grant and the United States Artist Fellowship award. Her work is featured in all major ceramics and arts media, including Craft in America on PBS. See more of Córdova’s work at www.cristinacordova.com or on Instagram @cristinacordovastudio. 

Excerpted from Mastering Sculpture: The Figure in Clay by Cristina Córdova and published by Quarry Books, an imprint of The Quarto Group. To learn more, visit www.quarto.com/books/9780760373095/ mastering-sculpture-the-figure-in-clay.