Lot # : 42 - Brian Horsch "Shaggy Kansas Buffalo"

"In 2008, I began creating hand built and thrown sculpture from clay. Within 2 years, I started exploring the use of wood-fired kilns to finish my work and fell in love with the surfaces that I could achieve using wood kilns. Now, I primarily fire my work with wood. I wheel-throw and hand-build the parts needed for each sculpture using either porcelain or stoneware. I then meticulously sculpt each finished piece from these component parts. The natural glaze and flame marks observed on my work result from being fired in a wood-fueled kiln. As wood is burned, the kiln temperature begins to rise, and the atmosphere fills with floating ash. This fine fly ash gradually builds up on all of the exposed surfaces of the work inside. Once the temperature inside the kiln exceeds 2000 degrees Fahrenheit from continuously adding more and more wood, the wood ash begins to melt, run, and ultimately glaze each piece of sculpture. This random layering of wood ash glaze onto the surface results in one-of-a-kind sculptures with beautiful colors and patinas." Ceramics, 8H x 11W. Brian Horsch grew up in Colwich, KS, a small town Northwest of Wichita. His first career was as an optometrist practicing in Manhattan, Council Grove, Topeka and Lawrence, KS. He loved driving through the Flint Hills on his way to work. He is now a potter and an artist focusing on wood-fired ceramic sculpture. His studio is located in Lawrence, KS. Brian started sculpting from wood early on in his life, using various scraps, hardwoods, and a pocketknife. He tends to focus on animal forms, both real and unreal. He has a special affinity for the indigenous species of the Flint Hills, especially if they have horns or antlers.