Harry Cassell

^10 ceramic

I am inspired by the narratives at the core of this medium: the geological cycles from which the ingredients in clay and glazes are formed. Through the abstraction of complex processes involving heat, water, and pressure into a language of color and symbols, I can then reassemble this library of geological motifs into fantastical landscapes which blur the line between educational and mythological.

The First Flame series tells the story of a flame unwinding from the core of the Earth and traveling up towards the Earth’s surface. Emerging under the protection of a cave, the flame is protected from the great floods above and grows into a large fire.

Each piece tells this same story while showing the evolution of iconography from iteration to iteration. The First Flame is a study of the design process and how small decisions inspire growth. If I introduce a new shape, how does the landscape mold around it? If I shift the physics of this mythological world, how do water and fire react? 

A stain glass ode to pyrometric cones which are used to measure the temperature in a kiln.

It lives above a small test kiln in a pottery studio.

A wedging table for a small pottery studio

Forged Mild Steel

2021

Each part is hand forged and then TIG welded together

2020

Mild steel

Copper

2019

3” X 3” X 3”

Copper

2019

25.5” x 10.5” x 24”

Cherry

Powder Coated Steel

Inspired by the communicative processes of wood and steel.

2018

16.5” x 16.5” x 40”

White Oak

Mild Steel

A friendly and domestic piece of furniture referencing metal shop tools and processes. A metal shop roller translated to clay, translated to wood.

2018

16” X 12” X 24”

White Oak

Mild Steel

2018

Mild steel flat bar

Mild steel sheet

Guitar string

2018

Black Walnut

A rattle intended for a goat herder calling their flock.

2018

White Oak

Various Grains

Carvings made using hand tools such as gouges and bevel knives.

2017-2020

Tigerwood

Black Walnut

2017

14” x 32” x 23”

White Oak

Black Walnut

Birdwise

An obscure and interactive hanging wall decoration. The body is a hinge system while the pivots are hand carved birds becoming increasingly distorted.

2017

 White Mahogany Veneer

African Mahogany

A box that displays beat up boat shoes and the small items one finds at the beach.

2017

9.5” X 5.5” X 12”

Cherry

Ash Details

Sculptures completed for the Figure Modeling Marathon Winter Session class.

Plasticine

Wire Armature

A two player foosball table with bronze gongs acting as the goals. 

2016

30.5” X 13” X 29”

Bronze

Maple

Bubinga Details

Glass Table Top

Stainless Steel Rod.