Stepanka Summer
Yummy porcelain macaroon-like installations, optical illusions of fluffy pillows, and golden clouds fill the wall with joy! Summer’s wonderment of the world is depicted in all of her work.
Stepanka Summer is a porcelain artist who blends art, design and personal imageries from her childhood, inviting the viewer to take a deeper look at familiar encounters, as she transforms them into her own whimsical creations.
For Summer it was love at first sight with porcelain, but there were many heart breaks along the way, as the medium is notoriously difficult to work with. Having access to one of the only a few gas kilns in NYC, Summer relishes in the unpredictability and excitement that firing up her porcelain pieces can bring.
Originally from a medieval village in South Bohemia in the Czech Republic, she moved to New York City in 1995. In addition to her artwork, which can be found in galleries in the US and in private collections internationally, Stepanka Summer is a ceramic teacher at the Columbia University Teachers College.
Every piece is hand formed then multiple fired, first in an electric kiln, then in a gas kiln to 2400 degrees F and then fired again with 14-22K gold or silver luster to 1000 degrees F in an electric kiln.
in porcelain i speak
sitting at a table and letting the magical intangible come through my hands
is the very essence of my every day
it’s the process that satisfies my heart
and I know all i make will finds its awaiting home
and all i put in will be felt within its new four walls
speaking from my soul
