Susan Bergman's The Last Banquet, 12 in. (30.5 cm) in diameter, mid-range stoneware, coil and handbuilt, slips, washes, glazes, fired in oxidation to cone 5, 2023. Photo: Charlie Cummings Gallery.
Susan Bergman's The Last Banquet, 12 in. (30.5 cm) in diameter, mid-range stoneware, coil and handbuilt, slips, washes, glazes, fired in oxidation to cone 5, 2023. Photo: Charlie Cummings Gallery.

My work celebrates passions, vices, and appetites. Each functional piece, whether it’s a drinking vessel (a lot of my work is about drinking), a box, a pitcher, or a bowl, exaggerates and salutes millennia of ceramic tradition, building stories that are harmonious and savage, hilarious and tender, and that can never be seen from a single perspective.

1 Construct the form, turn it upside down on a turntable. Decorate the bottom, then add slip to the exterior.
1 Construct the form, turn it upside down on a turntable. Decorate the bottom, then add slip to the exterior.
2 To make roses, squeeze clay paper thin between fingers, then layer and overlap around a wooden skewer.
2 To make roses, squeeze clay paper thin between fingers, then layer and overlap around a wooden skewer.

3 For daisies, roll tiny balls, then squeeze to flatten into teardrop shapes and arrange around a center, usually in layers.
3 For daisies, roll tiny balls, then squeeze to flatten into teardrop shapes and arrange around a center, usually in layers.
4 Once a daisy is attached, roll a ball, add slip, and push it into the center of the flower, poking it with a skewer.
4 Once a daisy is attached, roll a ball, add slip, and push it into the center of the flower, poking it with a skewer.

5 To fill the space, it’s an all-out pile-up, to create the impression of background foliage, texture, and shadow.
5 To fill the space, it’s an all-out pile-up, to create the impression of background foliage, texture, and shadow.
6 I add tiny curling cone shapes to imply motion. This photo shows about 1/8 of the engulfed outer surface of a bowl.
6 I add tiny curling cone shapes to imply motion. This photo shows about 1/8 of the engulfed outer surface of a bowl.

Learn more at susanbergmanclay.com.

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