PortfolioSource ofYOU

Studio ceramicist · stoneware and glaze

Hana Sekine

A pot is decided twice: once on the wheel and once in the kiln. Most of my work is making the second decision less of a surprise.

Based in
Hudson Valley, NY
Status
Taking commissions on a firing cycle
Hana Sekine
01Selected work/ 06
Clay-slicked hands centring stoneware on a potter's wheel
01Process

On the wheel

The throwing itself: stoneware centred, opened, and pulled, which is the half of the work a finished pot hides.

  1. A tall ash-glazed stoneware vessel on a plinth against a bare wall
    02Vessels

    Vessel series

    Tall thrown vessels in an ash glaze that breaks to iron at the rim, made in runs of six so the surface can be compared.

    Ongoing since 2021

  2. Still-warm glazed pots on the hearth beside an open kiln
    03Firing

    Unloading

    The kiln opened: the moment the second decision becomes visible and half the shelf turns out different from the plan.

    8 firings a year

  3. A pinned grid of glaze test tiles across a studio wall
    04Glaze

    Glaze library

    More than 200 tested surfaces pinned in a grid on the studio wall, each one a firing that did something I did not ask for.

    200+ tested surfaces

  4. Rows of unfired bowls drying on wooden ware boards
    05Studio

    Greenware

    Unfired work drying on ware boards, where a run either holds its proportions across six pots or does not.

  5. A row of finished glazed bowls on a scarred wooden worktable
    06Commissions

    Table sets

    Commissioned bowl and plate sets made to a household rather than to a shelf, in celadon and iron speckle.

02About

Three years in a production pottery in Shigaraki taught me speed and repetition, which is not what people expect an apprenticeship to be about. I came back, spent two years on glaze chemistry at a community studio, and opened my own space in the Hudson Valley in 2019. The glaze library is at more than 200 tested surfaces now, and every one of them exists because a firing did something I did not ask for. I fire eight times a year and take commissions against that cycle, not against a calendar.

03Capabilities

I throw stoneware and develop the glazes that go on it, from one studio.

Known for

  • Ash glazes
  • Thrown vessels
  • Glaze testing

Focus

  • Stoneware
  • Surface
  • Firing
04Recognition

Studio since 2019

Own space in the Hudson Valley

Trained 3 years

Production pottery in Shigaraki

200+ tested glazes

Studio glaze library, all fired and recorded

05How I work

Commissioned sets

Bowl, plate, and cup sets thrown and glazed to order, scheduled against the next firing.

Vessel work

Larger thrown vessels made in runs of six so the glaze can be chosen against real comparisons.

Glaze consulting

Testing and recording work for studios trying to make a surface repeatable.

06Career

  1. 2019 - present

    Studio Ceramicist, own studio

    Thrown stoneware, glaze development, eight firings a year.

  2. 2017 - 2019

    Glaze chemistry, community studio

    Two years of testing and record keeping.

  3. 2014 - 2017

    Apprentice, production pottery, Shigaraki

    Speed, repetition, and the wheel.

07Perspective

Repetition is the apprenticeship

Three years of making the same cup is not drudgery. It is the only way the hand stops negotiating with the clay.

Record the failures

A test tile that came out wrong is worth more than one that came out as expected, as long as somebody wrote down what happened.

08Questions
01

What does Hana make?

Thrown stoneware, mostly vessels and table sets, with glazes she develops and tests herself in a Hudson Valley studio.

02

What is she known for?

Ash glazes that break to iron at the rim, and a studio glaze library of more than 200 tested and recorded surfaces.

03

How does she take work?

On a firing cycle. She fires eight times a year and commissions are scheduled against a firing rather than a date.

09Contact

Folio·shown with a fictional demo record

See it on your record →
Folio · Designs · Source of You