Macro-Crystalline Glaze: A Mimicry of Nature's Wonder
Group of wheel thrown works in Macro-crystalline glaze by Rayn Leow
It was
Love At First Sight
for Rayn when he laid eyes on a pottery piece finished with macro-crystalline glaze. Intrigued, he embarked on a four-year-long journey to experiment and perfect his current repertoire of glazes. Each glaze formulation is first saturated with metallic oxides before a smidgen of crystal nucleation agent is added. By controlling the heatwork received by the glaze, the population and growth rate of the crystal blooms can be influenced. But the location and germination of each individual nuclei are random, and so no two pieces are ever alike.
‘What nature gave, humans must nurture’
Many beautiful things in the world are survivors of the toughest, most inhospitable conditions. The formulation of macro-crystals in glazes is analogous to the natural creation of willemite crystals in the earth’s magma. The million-years-long process is whittled down to just twenty-four hours in a modern-day kiln. With the application of immense heat and precise control, spectacular flower-like crystals bloom all over the surface.