“I listen to the piece as it grows. I listen to the fire.”
Chloe Foster
My practice lives at the intersection of handbuilding and fire. As both an artist and a ceramic studio technician, I move between making and caretaking - sculpting intuitive forms by hand and guiding them through traditional firing methods like woodfire, obvara, and pit fire. My work is grounded in texture, process, and the wisdom of materials. Each piece is a conversation with the Earth, the flame, and the long lineage of makers who came before me.
How It All Started
My sculptural work is deeply entwined with my role as a ceramic technician and steward of fire. For nearly a decade I’ve worked inside community studio spaces, caring for kilns and potters alike. Firing is as much a part of my practice as handbuilding - both require presence, patience, and a deep respect for transformation.
Each of my sculptures is formed through an intuitive, embodied process, and then offered to the flame - either through woodfire, obvara, or pit firing. These traditional methods root me in the ancient rhythms of land, fire, and form.
Materials
I work with a range of clay bodies, chosen for their texture and how they respond to atmospheric firings. Some are smooth and porcelain-like, while others are rough, groggy, and full of tooth.
I often leave my pieces unglazed to allow the flame and ash to finish the surface. When I do apply treatments, they’re minimal - slips, stains, and natural washes that emphasize, rather than cover, the form.
Obvara and pit firing involve special materials too: a fermented yeast mixture or sawdust and seaweed, all contributing to unpredictable markings.
Tools & Techniques
My hands are my primary tool. Every sculpture begins with a coil, a pinch, a press. I rarely use molds or templates - instead, I let texture and tension guide the growth.
My technician role means I also engage deeply with kilns - electric, gas, wood - and I’ve learned how to build, repair, and coax life from them. There’s intimacy in knowing how the machines breathe.
Environment
Much of my work is created in the borderlands - in Douglas, Arizona - a place of sun, dust, and wind. The desert teaches me patience and impermanence. My sculptures echo the forms I encounter daily: sandstone erosion, dry creek beds, nests, pods.
At Cochise College, I manage a community studio with access to a range of kilns. It’s a hybrid space: part classroom, part lab, part temple to fire. Outside of work, I fire with a group of potters who steward a noborigama in the mountains, creating space for communal ritual.
Ethics
I believe in slowing down, making with care, and sharing knowledge. As a technician, I see every firing as an act of service - not just for my work, but for my community.
I choose firing techniques that respect natural rhythms, even when they’re labor-intensive or unpredictable. I build sculptures that invite touch, curiosity, and presence - resisting the pressure to produce for speed or perfection.
This work is rooted in reciprocity: between maker and material, fire and form, artist and land.