rocks as rocks examines personal connections between people to people and people to the earth specifically through geological materials. It is a body of work rooted in ceramic practice that identifies various modes of exchange crucial to our individual and collective world-building. By exploring the potentials of a selection of earth artifacts as both traditional and non-traditional ceramic ingredients, my project emphasizes, through acts of gathering and gifting, the role of our host planet as an active force, labourer, and maker.

Nearly all materials used in ceramics are derived from rocks. The refining process of rocks to purify and isolate compounds, includes the use of heat and pressure to decompose geological materials. Similar forces, at a much greater scale, were exerted by the earth in the formation of the raw materials.

25 types of raw materials are refined at a personal scale to form 50 specimens, half of which are fired to cone 6 (1000°C) oxidation and the other half to cone 10 (1280°C) reduction. A number of the materials were gifted to me by generous friends and mentors, and underscore an accumulation of human connections through tangible symbols. It is a moment of reflection on the connections between my homeland, Taiwan, the various lands I’ve lived on, and the land on which I conduct my studies: belonging to Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, and other Coast Salish peoples.

The collection of geological materials from different lands expressed as ceramic objects delivers an organized table of experiments seeking to make sense of a gradient of material properties. Through this research, the boundaries between standardized classifications of clay bodies and glaze materials are blurred.

It is also a moment to reflect on the multitude of connections I’ve made throughout my life, as well as showing gratitude to all the people, places, and things.