Werkstatt + Galerie TERRA S

Austrian ceramist Roland Summer has been delighting experts with his vessels for years. They are made by hand, with a silky, shiny surface, similar to terra sigilata, as used by the Romans to make fine tableware. Roland Summer fires his vessels using the raku technique. Formally, his works are sometimes reminiscent of natural forms, but in any case they radiate the highest harmony and proportion.

All the pieces I produce are made using various construction techniques. Usually a group of works is created in parallel. When they are leather-hard, they are polished and covered with terra sigillata (a shiny clay that I produce). This is followed by a first bisque firing in an electric kiln and a second application of terra sigillata. This is followed by a second firing in the electric kiln. The piece is then coated with a separating layer and sometimes glazed.

TERRA SIGILLATA - RAKU Roland Summer's vessels are part of the ancient vessel tradition of mankind. They bear witness to simple stillness. They are a formal and technical synthesis of different cultures: the construction of the pieces using various construction techniques, such as those used in Africa or in pre-Columbian America, the subsequent polishing of the surfaces in a leather-hard state and the application of a coating of "terra sigillata" (= glossy clay), as was customary in the Mediterranean countries, and finally the (originally Japanese) raku firing. Roland Summer developed the technique of LOST GLAZE, in which the glaze cracks off the polished piece like an eggshell after the raku firing, leaving behind the pattern of the fuming. The mood and character of a vessel are always individual as a work result: they are never-ending variations of aesthetic recreations. Tradition as the constant but not rigid repetition of the creative act, combined with the joy of experimentation, are the parameters for Roland Summer's personal artistic expression.