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The raku technique has evolved and grown in popularity over the years, particularly since its introduction to the Western world a mere 50 years ago. In fact, Western raku differs quite a bit from Eastern raku. In Eastern raku, pieces are generally removed from the kiln and immediately submerged in cold water or set aside to cool. In Western raku, we use combustibles in containers to create a reduction atmosphere for pieces as soon as they are removed from the kiln.
According to most accounts, Warren Gilbertson, an American who worked in Japan for two years, brought the raku technique to the U.S. He returned to the States from Japan in 1940 and was invited to stage an exhibition in Chicago, where his first raku pieces were shown. Then in 1942, Gilbertson presented a paper describing the raku technique to the American Ceramic Society, but unfortunately, he regarded it as a novelty or craft…a process reserved for amateurs, rather than something to be taken seriously. His unfortunate death in a car accident in 1954 brought an end to his experimentation with raku.
Then in the 1960s, American potter Paul Soldner began using a reduction chamber at the end of the raku firing. By placing pieces removed from a hot kiln in a chamber containing combustible materials, a reducing atmosphere is achieved for the glaze, and any unglazed exposed clay surface is stained with carbon.
Expecting the unexpected
Many potters who practice raku look beyond the method as more than a technique…it is a way of thinking. One who practices the raku method must have an attitude of openness, an expectation for the unexpected, as many of the amazing and beautiful results of raku firing are more due to accident rather than intention. Western raku – porous, with non-functional glazes or no glaze at all – can be considered a liberating influence in ceramics, a sort of anything goes practice that can result in objects of beauty.
Gallery
References
http://www.rakuart.com/html/history.html
http://www.globalairphotos.com/chapmanraku/history.html
http://www.claygirl.com/raku.html#D
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raku
Raku, John Mathieson, © 2002
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