In May of this year, we hosted Alterfact Studio's exhibition Past, Present & Future in our Fitzroy Sample Room for Melbourne Design Week. Over the 9 days period Lucile was printing ceramic works for the audience to see. We started talking about how the clay ran through the machine, and whether we could print ceramics that were made of complete colour blocked sections by only using dyed porcelain. Lucile had printed works before that integrated colour with the natural colour of clay, but not using 4 large colour blocked sections.
 

Over a period of months we worked on different variations of the form: with a flat base, narrower and taller, with tapered edges. Ultimately we felt that the colour and texture of the vase was the hero of the project, and we decided to use a simple cylinder as the final shape. Even though the 3D file the machine prints is a cylinder, environmental factors and the firing process changes the overall shape and flow of the ceramic, meaning each vase is both perfect and imperfect at the same time. 

Throughout the process of making the Gradient Vases, we had a lot of people comment that they had thought that the vases were made from plastic because that was their association with the 3D printing process, and also because we had decided on a matte glaze for the exterior of the vases. To truely appreciate the Gradient Vases, they need to be held in your hand so you can feel the weight and touch of the material. We hope we were able to show the inherit imperfections of fired ceramic in the individual photos of each vase by taking highly details photos.

Gradient Vases are sold out.