Creative ceramic collection captivates capital residents

Danish Yazdani plays with fire and the results are dazzling. Her ceramics collections went on display at the Earth and Fire Studio Saturday evening where guests kept arriving even after the two-day display was announced closed.

Titled ‘Pottery for the Soul’, the display was spread in three rooms and figurines, bowls, lamps, tiles and wall art sat glowing under yellow spot lights.

Danish Yazdani graduated from the Hunerkada College of Arts in 1997. Since then she has been trained under some of the legendary names in the world of ceramic arts including American ceramist Paul Soldner among others.

There are probably as many variations in firing techniques as there are potters and that makes every piece unique.

The thrill of discovery exists each time the cooled ashes are pushed aside. And Danish uses modern influences with ancient expressions. Her techniques include hand building, Raku firing and burnishing; with a special affinity for natural textures and earthen tones offset by contemporary contrasts.

“Raku firing is a specialised ancient Japanese style of designing pottery. It gives off a metallic effect after the clay is biscuit fired at a certain temperature until it becomes a fireball. It is then put into a metal bin with other materials that catch fire. The chemical reactions give the piece certain earthen as well as metallic effects,” Danish told her guests on the opening night.

The technique stood out from other forms of firing practices, of putting the clay in the kilns, making it into a piece and glazing it for colours to finish the work.

The unpredictable results of the particular technique drew her to experiment and work more for the impressive results. All the works were handmade and not thrown on the wheel.

Danish Yazdani is also trained in the skill of glaze making and has enhanced and introduced many of her own signature techniques into this field. Her mentor and teacher Paul Soldner, who introduced Raku firing in the US in the 1960’s continued to be her inspiration. The display will run till May 6.