Judith Motzkin

Judith Motzkin Studio

"I have developed a palette of colors and patterns through the exploration and exploitation of accidents."

Judy Motzkin creates the deep, complex coloration of these clay pieces with a process she calls "flame painting." She uses no glazes. Instead, she carefully burnishes each piece while damp, then applies terra sigillata once it's dry. She repeats this process, polishing between coats, until the piece is buffed to the worn smoothness of a river stone. The kind that invites the touch of the hand.

Markings appear in the kiln, where the pieces are exposed to various combustibles, some of which have been soaked in mineral solutions. What comes out of the kiln, though a direct result of what goes in, is always a mystery. The colors and markings left by the process of fire painting are what bring the final pieces to life.

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Selected Exhibitions & Awards
American Craft Council - Northeast ACC, Rhinebeck, Springfield, Baltimore, Baltimore, MD, 1982-2005
American Craft Council, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 1995
Re:Form, Fuller Museum of Art, Brockton, MA, 1998
Artist Fellowship Award, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Boston, MA, 2019
Collections
Legacy of Fire, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA, 2015
Museum of Fine Arts , Boston, Boston, MA, 1989
All in the Same Boat, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China, 2018
International Ceramics, Jingdezhen Ceramics Museum, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, China, 2009
Museum Collection, Crocker Museum, Sacramento, CA, 1992