This two-day workshop centers on the use of natural clays from Greece as both material and conceptual foundation for ceramic work. Drawing on my Fulbright research, I will share my knowledge in the vast range of possibilities embedded in local and regional clays—considering them not only as technical resources, but as carriers of place, history, and meaning.
Participants will work with a selection of natural clays that I will bring to the workshop, alongside locally sourced materials when available. Together we will process the clays and compare samples to clays in their raw state, discussing when refinement is necessary and when the irregularities of unprocessed material become an asset. Demonstrations and exercises will include making and testing terra sigillatas, slips, and engobes, as well as creating grogs as textural additives. Emphasis will be placed on understanding how a single clay source can be transformed into multiple functional roles within a ceramic practice.
Over the course of the workshop, students will build test tiles and small studies for exploring surface, color, texture, and firing responses of the natural clay. Interwoven throughout the three days will be lectures and informal discussions sharing my own research-driven studio practice, including how I use natural materials to connect geological origin, cultural context, and contemporary ceramic form. By the end of the workshop, participants will gain both practical methods for working with natural clays and a broader framework for using material choice as an intentional, conceptually driven aspect of their work.
Geoff Booras is focused on producing experimental ceramics, painting, and sculpture in many forms. His practice contemplates the puzzling relationship humans have with nature, looking specifically to land-use, resource extraction, as well as the history of science and exploration. His work has been shown at Trestle Gallery, Brooklyn; Haw Contemporary, Kansas City; and The Museum of Longing and Failure in Germany.
Booras has been artist-in-resident at Mass MoCA, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Anderson Ranch Art Center, Arctic Circle Residency, Wassaic Project, Banff Art Centre, and The Rockefeller Foundation’s Pocantico Residency.
He holds masters degrees from Harvard University (EdM) and State University of New York at New Paltz (MFA) and studied geology at Skidmore College (BA). He apprenticed under sculptor, Toshiko Takaezu, and serves on the board of The Toshiko Takaezu Foundation. He is currently in Greece for research purposes as a grant recipient from Fulbright Foundation.
