Conversations w/ Christopher Merchant
Working with your materials you deliver a very coarse but almost weathered aspect which makes it feels organic, is this intentional?
For my current series of sculptural pieces, I have developed a systematic approach, creating a “perfect” drawing of an idea and then using digital technology to build unique tools to develop it using clay. The irregularity and unpredictability of the material are what deliver the weathered, organic aspect of the work, and the results are different every time. I intend to illuminate the beauty of a characteristically uncontrollable material reacting to being constrained to a highly ordered form.
Who are some of your Inspirations?
Richard Serra’s large-scale work has a special place for me. I love the technical aspect of it, the fact that he managed to gain access to technology and facility meant to create the shell of warships and instead used it to create his sculptures. The fact that he finishes the steel with a weathered patina also feels closely connected to my approach to materials.
I’m also inspired by architecture, of which the brutalist architecture of the Barbican in London, designed by Chamberlin, Powell, and Bon, stands out. The surfaces of the buildings are made of intentionally distressed concrete (jackhammered, irregular surfaces), giving them a distinctive, randomized appearance and reducing the visibility of any eventual damage.
When did you notice your passion for ceramics?
I was trained as a woodworker but lost access to my shared studio during the early part of the Pandemic. As a result, ceramics became an outlet for my creativity that required far less space, fewer machines, and fewer resources in a time of scarcity for me. During this time, I also invested in a small 3D printer, which I began using to create my tools and techniques in ceramics, building a small creative ecosystem for myself that encompassed both digital and hand-crafted aspects.
Like a brutalist building, I design each piece from a simple, repetitive pattern that I execute with coarse, groggy clay. Usually, one repetitive detail is molded and attached to its counterparts to form a whole, with basic variations in their configurations leading to unique pieces.
Does your use of ceramic emphasize a correlation to concrete?
I love ceramics for their variability. In my current work, I am using a clay body that resembles concrete when fired. Still, in other areas of my career, I use porcelain (another clay body) as a delicate, opalescent diffuser for light.
Tell us about your upcoming sculptural series.
I’ve planned a series of sculptural ceramic pieces utilizing simple, repetitive patterns, which I plan to build in various configurations, at multiple scales, and with different surface finishes to create a series of unique works which relate closely to one another.
While I have a set of drawings to start working with, this series will likely expand and change over time, including decorative objects, sculptural furniture pieces, luminaires, and more. Each piece will build on the previous, hopefully leading me somewhere I never expected to be.
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