Lilach Lotan BOTTLED
The February show in the Gallery of BC Ceramics

Our everyday life is a compound of private,
social and political events. Some are insignifi-
cant; some are hard to shake off, leaving a deep
mark. Consciously and subconsciously I drew
my inspiration from those events and channeled
them into this series of works. I chose to carry
the same bottle shape throughout the series,
using it as a motif and metaphor, stretching it in
Each bottle tells a
story...my personal representation of relation-
ships, dreams, hopes, struggle, balance and har-
mony.

every direction imaginable.

My work is my way to connect with the world.
I’ve always had trouble expressing myself with
words. My language is clay. I create words on the
potter’s-wheel, and then combine and shape my
sentences by hand.

Growing up, I liked spend-
ing time in my own
world of
Lego toys, train sets and
assembly kits. As ’m trying
to find “my voice” as an

micro—magical

Puzzle (right) and detail (below).

artist, I cannot ignore that early influence.
Rarely do I throw a vessel all in one piece. I con-
stantly play Lego, but now, I get to create my
own units.

As much as I like being in control of the making
process, at some point the piece gets a life of its
own. It’s being born instead of being made. Of
course I put my “genes” into it, but then nature
does its magic. It’s refreshing to let my guard
down when it comes to the firing. In wood fir-
ing I use almost no glazes. Everything is left up
to heat, ash and mostly chance. If it works, there
is nothing like it! You can never imitate chance!

When firing in an electric kiln I chose to incor-
porate wood ash as a primary ingredient in my
glazes, because its effect is somewhat unpre-
dictable. It “shuffles my
cards”. I never know what
I'm going to get. Each kiln
opening is a surprise!

Lilach Lotan

Photos courtesy Lilach Lotan

Nomad (lefi) and detail (t below)

Potters Guild of British Columbia Newsletter

February 2005