Who?
I’m Johannes Kaarakainen, a Finnish ceramist. My focus is on making functional pottery by hand with relatively traditional methods. I run my own tiny workshop in Vantaa, Finland, where I work in a slow manner, producing limited batches of items, and conducting my own experimentations on the side.
I make pottery by wheel-throwing. Even though it is only a method among others, it is an important and defining part of my practice in several ways: in the sense of how it affects the aesthetics of pieces I make, how it makes a flexible, spontaneous way of working possible, and how it allows me a constant, direct contact with the material I am working with. To me, it is important that every single item I make is individually shaped by my hands, starting from a simple clump of clay and ending up with a fired, finished piece. My way of working combines traditions and methods of European studio pottery to the techniques and craft philosophies I have learned in Japan.
I have a particular interest in different kinds of kilns and firing methods, as well as glazes, which is also a fundamental element in defining the kind of pottery I make. This is why I have also mentioned the method of firing for each item on the shop, and explained below a little bit on what each of them is about.
I am soon graduating as a Master of Arts from the programme of Contemporary Design at Aalto University. I hold a BA degree from the Institute of Design at Lahti University of Applied Sciences. During my MA studies I also did exchange studies at the ceramics department in Musashino Art University in Tokyo, Japan.
Anagama firing
Originating from the age-old Japanese pottery tradition, anagama kilns are some of the most characteristic ceramic kilns in existence. They are heated with wood, and the firings last for days, which is hard and physically very intensive work. In anagama firing, the constantly changing and raging fire becomes an active collaborator in producing the work, bringing its own qualities to the final pieces.
I fire my works at the communal firings of Glass and Ceramics Center Kuu’s anagama kiln, which is located in Mallusjoki, Southern Finland. The kiln is fired for around four days as a collaborative effort of around 30 people, led by ceramists Jari Vesterinen and Aba Luostarinen.
The visual characteristics of anagama fired work include organic surfaces with lively textures, earthy colours, drippings of melted wood ash and fire scorched patterns. Each piece is entirely unique, and the results can never be quite exactly predicted, nor reproduced. This specialness, along with the rarity of works produce with this method, add to the value of each anagama-fired product. To me personally, this is firing ceramics at its truest.
The frequency of anagama firings is low, and I produce only one or two batches of these special pieces per year, in spring and/or autumn.
Gas firing
My work relies heavily on classic glazes, such as celadon, tenmoku and shino glazes, which all require particular kind of firing conditions, that can only be acheived with certain kinds of kilns. A firing process that alters the atmosphere within the kiln to be drained of oxygen is used for obtaining colours like the characteristic celadon blues and oxblood reds. This can only be acheived in a kiln that uses combustible matter as a fuel for heating. This is called reduction firing.
I am using a self-built small gas kiln that is situated just outside my workshop. The firings usually last for about 12 hours, during which the kiln conditions are carefully observed and adjusted throughout the process.
The works produced in gas kiln are generally much more clean and smooth compared to anagama-fired ceramics, and the process allows for a more predictable outcomes. However, they still have a certain depth associated to firing with a live flame.
Charcoal reduction firing
During my exchange studies at Musashino Art University in Tokyo, I learned about a firing method called carbonization firing (tanka shōsei). Pictured on the right, it involves enclosing the ceramic works in a saggar with large amounts of charcoal, and then firing everything inside a kiln. This method can be used for making heavily carbonized gray and even almost black pieces. During firing, the burning charcoal forms carbon monoxide and forms an extremely strong reductive atmosphere within the saggar.
This method of firing led me to exploring the possibilities of using charcoal in considerably lower amounts for more subtle effects. Through experimenting, I found out that with a right amount of charcoal and a suitable firing schedule, reduction firings could be effectively and safely done even with common electric kilns, which have conventionally not been suitable for these types of firings. This opens up a whole new level of depth in the exploration of glazes and firings in electric kilns.
Charcoal reduced works mostly resemble those fired with gas, but depending on certain factors, can have carbon-affected grayish areas, sooty textures and organic suface patterns caused by the burning gases released from charcoal.
