In the studio with Nikki Kwong: inspiration from NCECA
We’re always excited to highlight the voices of our talented Brick & Mortar community! Ceramicist and teacher Nikki Kwong recently returned from her first trip to the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) conference full of new inspiration and ideas. We caught up with her to hear about her experience, the artists and artworks that blew her mind, and the clay-related chaos she and Lindsay narrowly avoided at the airport.
What was the most inspiring or surprising moment for you at NCECA this year?
As a newbie to NCECA everything was so inspiring. From the concentration of potters, to the exhibitions, and demos; everything was so inspiring!
Seeing the galleries on the last day was the most awe inspiring. My favorite if I had to choose would be the sculpture from Tip Toland "Enough". It was mind blowing! The amount of detail in the skin and facial expressions of both figures was amazing. It is really cool to see how detailed the medium can get. It definitely got me excited to start working on more sculptural elements and character design.
Another amazing artist I discovered was Sarah Conti and her realistic birds. Seeing her falcon up close and seeing how thin she could make the wings was breathtaking. Pictures do not do it justice.
Sarah Conti
I come from a primarily glaze-based background and up until now, I would create pieces that would showcase forms and the glaze itself. But after seeing other potters and their sculptures, I'm really looking forward to creating characters, playing with stylization, and focusing on clay body and surface design.
Did you discover any new techniques, tools, or trends that you're excited to try out in your own work?
Seeing the demo from Kyungmin Park really pushed me to hand build more and challenge what I do sculpturally. Up until now I made functional ware mainly wheel with hand built elements. It was exciting to watch her build over the 3 days at NCECA. It was less of a technique, but more seeing the process of how she worked that made me excited to begin pushing my characters and stylization in my own art style.
It reminded me how much I do enjoy hand building and inspired me to get back into my roots of sculpture (before I got my glaze wizard certification).
Did you have a favorite clay pun or overheard moment that made you laugh?
Honestly there probably was but the entire trip felt so much like a fever dream it's hard to recall.
Any packing regrets? Did you bring too many mugs… or not enough?
Oh big FOMO was not bringing a duck mug to the mug exchange hands down!
Although, bringing an empty suitcase was probably the best packing idea I had. It came in handy almost immediately. Lindsay had to have her carry on bag checked with all her mugs for the pop up. So we quickly did some maneuvering and put all the mugs into my carry on as I shifted all my stuff into the empty. It definitely avoided a big crisis at the start of our trip!
