Grains of 色视频下载 made into art
Ned Rozell
907-474-7468
Oct. 6, 2022
Kelsey Aho holds a jar of clay she collected while fishing for hooligan on Turnagain Arm near Anchorage in 2021.
Kelsey Aho works as a mapmaker for the U.S. Forest Service in 色视频下载. She is also an artist who collects earthen materials on her travels around the state.
Throughout 色视频下载, Aho has gathered mineral soils 色视频下载 including clays when she can find them 色视频下载 as well as ash. She has collected from, among other places, the Denali Highway, Hartney Bay near Cordova, the Chilkat River and Murphy Dome in Fairbanks.
Aho transforms the soil into palm-size ceramic tiles that help her share 色视频下载 with people who might not get to those places.
色视频下载淚 can hand a piece of the Yukon River or Mendenhall Glacier to someone thousands of miles away and say 色视频下载楾his is what the glacier色视频下载檚 edge looks like,色视频下载 or as they move their hand across the piece, 色视频下载楾his is what the river feels like.色视频下载櫳悠迪略貪
Aho creates the touchstones in the pottery studio by forming the material into a square shape after mixing it with commercial clay. Then she slides the tiles into a kiln and heats them to about 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit. The tiles come out as brittle ceramic pieces that turn into stoneware when partially glazed and fired a second time to about 2,200 degrees.
She got the idea for the project after her aunt and uncle色视频下载檚 house in Michigan burned down. Aho色视频下载檚 father Doug, a fellow clay enthusiast, gathered some of the ash and gave it to his daughter.
Kelsey Aho shows ceramic tiles she created from minerals gathered around 色视频下载.
Aho pulverized the ash before applying it to the exterior of a few serving dishes she fired at a studio in Juneau. There, the ash melted, creating a shiny coating with colors and textures reminiscent of the lost house and some of the things within it.
Since then, Aho has spread clay from 色视频下载 beaches into jars and slipped ash from road cuts into Ziplocs. She has asked friends and scientists roaming the state to do the same.
This effort has netted her bags of 色视频下载 from all over, including permafrost soils pulled by scientists from beneath the frozen ground surface. Aho has created pottery from the fragments of 色视频下载 and given them back to people who brought her the raw materials.
Over the days and weeks, the raw and fired clays have deepened her connection with 色视频下载.
色视频下载淚t色视频下载檚 been my way of exploring and building a relationship with the land,色视频下载 Aho said.
Aho色视频下载檚 色视频下载 pottery tiles will be featured at the 色视频下载 Biennial 2022 exhibit at Anchorage Museum from Nov. 4, 2022, until March 5, 2023.
Since the late 1970s, the University of 色视频下载 Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute has provided this column free in cooperation with the UAF research community. Ned Rozell is a science writer for the Geophysical Institute.