Sculptors take part at a ceramic camp in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 2: Born out of sheer love of the artist’s hands and after going through the test of character in the kiln, the crystalline glaze that emerges on ceramic potteries can charm any onlooker for its matchless beauty.

Creating crystalline glaze on ceramic is a unique technique. It is in its initial stage in our country. At a camp on at the Ceramic Studio in the Lalit Kala Akademi’s regional centre here, young ceramic artists from five states are trying their hands at this exclusive form of ceramic sculpture.

The weeklong camp began on January 31. Eleven artists from Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand have taken part in the event. Most of the sculptors are working on the crystalline glaze ceramic for the first time, while some have had cherishing experiences with this medium.

Sculptor Abhay Pandit from Jharkhand, who comes from a family of ceramic artists, feels crystalline glaze is the beauty of nature bestowed on clay. “As usual, we create a form of ceramic sculpture out of clay on the potter’s wheel and then dry it under the sun. But while in regular ceramic pottery we burn the sculpture at high temperature in the kiln once, here we first spray it with certain chemical oxides, especially on the top and then burn it at 1,280 degree Celsius. After cooling the sculpture for 30 minutes we again burn it for 1,050 degree Celsius for a maximum of six hours,” he said.

“This creates fascinating crystals of the oxides on the surface of the ceramic that appear like shining and glazing flower patterns. One may keep the sculpture in the furnace for only one hour. But, the longer it burns the bigger is the radius of the emerging flower pattern. It definitely needs great patience,” said Pandit.

“We are glad to have all the facilities at this city based studio since this technique is rare in India. The crystalline glaze technique flourished in Germany some 200 years back. I am delighted to be a part of this camp and have tried new forms for my sculpture rather than the usual pottery,” said artist Jayanta Kumar Das from Odisha.

The creation of this exclusive art needs skill from the artist in controlling the temperature at different times. Young artist Purnima Sawan from Bihar is excited since she is creating it for the first time. “I was just left awestruck at an exhibition of crystalline glaze ceramics that was held in Delhi recently. But making it yourself is such a wonderful feeling. The artist does not even know what pattern will emerge on the ceramic once it comes out of the oven. So I’m patiently waiting to see what surprise nature has in store for me,” said Sawan.

The artists will exhibit their works on the last day of the camp on February 6.