Website: trishgianakis.com
Instagram: @trishgiaart
With a Masters Degree in Computer Art from School Of Visual Arts, I am an artist and adjunct professor at St. Peters University teaching digital design. I have a passion for ceramics and RAKU. Besides throwing clay on the potter’s wheel, I hand build clay to create sculptures. When sculpting, after the artwork is bisked and raku fired, I then combine the sculptures with found objects.
When creating each sculpture, I layer textures, combining raku ceramics sculpture with various found objects. I choose the Raku firing process for many reasons. The smoke of the raku firing process creates a blackened surface on the ceramics. The glazes produce a broad spectrum of metallic, matte and cracked surfaces, with variations in shades of copper, cobalt blue, turquoise, yellow, red, and white crackle, to name a few. Colors are intensified with the high heat and reduction process, giving the glazes an aged, weathered effect. With these glazes, the effects on the surface create inherent drama. I combine other natural materials such as wire, wood, dried flowers and tissue paper, then layer them over the sculpture, drawing diagonal lines across the face or body giving a sense of drama.
