My name is Kim Westad and I'm a ceramic artist in New York.
In 2004, I opened up my own studio and just started producing work.
I use the pug mail to mix new clay with the recycled clay and get it to a nice working consistency,
getting all the air bubbles out and making the clay ready to throw.
All of my pieces start on the wheel just because it's just so rhythmic and meditative and it's just how I start.
I love the idea and the process of making the work, but it's really also the physicalness of it.
Sitting at the wheel, hearing the wheel hum, having my hands within the clay, having the clay splatter.
It's just a wonderful experience all around.
I like my pieces to start out very refined and smooth.
And what I find when I'm throwing is that my finger marks are always very apparent and really rib the body of the piece.
So when I can use the tool and push those away and kind of take that away, it gives me the surface that I can work with.
I think that most of my work is based on the form.
I always start out with a form in mind.
The surface designs come later, but the form is always first.
And for me, the form has to be really strong, clean, well-made, and I think that if you start out with a bad form,
there's no amount of glaze or surface design or texturing or anything that you're ever going to compensate for that.
I kind of feel like I have two sides to my work, the very structured architectural part and then the very curvy, fluid-looking part.
I really love curvy things. I love very small details in things.
I like contrast in the design and the form, but I also like balance, so I find a lot of challenge in creating forms that are interesting to look at, but also well-balanced.
I definitely see them as little characters because no two are exactly alike. Some are a little bit shorter and some are a little bit rounder, almost like little animated things.
Thank you for watching!
