Christopher Reid Flock

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Artist's Statement

Various elements have come into play with my pursuit in clay.  My father, a percussionist, often took us to sit with him in the orchestra pit during concerts, and from this I found an immediate interest in music.   From my early studies with violin, I became more attracted to the tactile; holding and caressing the neck of the violin, the bow precariously balanced within my grasp.  This study brought me to university where the duration of physically playing music was limited in duration and tactility.  Arguably, music can be quite tactile, yet I needed to virtually hold those notes in my grasp and not the bow.

I stumbled upon clay with my wife Andra after she had enrolled in a clay class at the Burlington Art Centre and had asked me to venture to the studio.  I was pleasantly surprised to find a similar musicality to that of violin within clay; individual bowls became notes; the more detailed the piece the more complex the fingering. I was essentially creating music in a tactile medium. 

In 1999, I worked at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario with the second year group and quickly following that my wife and I moved to Ibaraki, Japan. I set up a studio in 2004 and continued immersing myself in Japanese culture. I was intrigued with the challenge of working in a functional form with a traditional heritage while exploring the limits of clay.

My work from Japan is wheel thrown, aged, cone 10-11 porcelain, manipulated, and then fired in a kerosene downdraft kiln.  I designed and built the kiln with both hard insulating brick and firebrick in order to one, insulate and thus improve firing efficiency and two, to slow the cooling process encouraging crystal growth with some glazes. I chose kerosene, as in Japan it is a readily available and an inexpensive fuel source for kilns. I visited numerous kiln sites and developed relationships with several local potters to further my independent study.

Japan became for me a second parent, essentially a guider of life through celebrations in everyday events: sharing a tea with a companion, walking outside into the neighborhood in your pajamas at 7am, and for nothing more than believing that you share personal moments with not only the immediate but the yet to be discovered.  It sounds odd. However, in a moment of sharing commonness with the outside world, we suddenly relate in ways that were until the moment, unimaginable.
 
My work is a result of a continuing exploration and refinement of my interests. The subtle nuances within Canada and Japan have found themselves reflected in my work.  I have incorporated landscape and cultural patterns in my work inviting interaction and contemplation.  The expansion and continuation of a traditional art from the modern world excites me.

With further examination of my craft, I wish to explore the unification of opposites, which the culture of Japan has taught me.

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