The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 49 No 3 November 2010

Process and Meaning
Keven francis during firing process, 2009; photo: courtesy artist
Working the Pit
Keven Francis discusses process and meaning
Risk, flames. smoke, sparks and spontaneity are the elements that excite and drive an obsession with
the transformational power of fire and its influence on our physical and emotional perception.
An immersion in the process of working the pit over several decades has enabled me to come to a
strong conceptual framework based on the theme of transition. This theme is a common intent in my
art practice across ceramics, painting and sculpture.
I have become focused on a threshold or divide between states expressed as the strong hard edge
produced by the fire's carbonisation of ceramic and timber. This sharp dividing line is integral to my work
as it denotes a link between one existence, or experience, and another. This link can also be considered
as a separate emotional and physical st ate in the space between before and after. such as the flux
created by the burning fire-pit.
My selection of palm-sized pinch pots as a medium of expression was driven by their potential to
carry personal sensitivity and tactility of the artists' hand, and their robustness when confronted with
movement during the firing process and radical temperature changes.
My current ceramic work involves making hundreds of small burnished pinch pots that are pit-fired in
groups of about 30 and installed as collectives of over 200 pieces. They are placed on thick clear glass
which is raised about 1 cm off a paper base, providing tension between the weight of the pots and a
sense of being suspended. In some installations, small pieces of charcoal are placed on the paper to
increase the perception of elevation and as a direct reference to the pit-firing.
Creating the palm-size pots is an obsessive process, with each piece gently moulded. then burnished,
THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2010 73