Surface, Form, & Breadth - Sculpting with Gina Pisto

Please join us for this in-depth workshop with Gina Pisto as we dive into the various techniques she utilizes to create her multi-faceted, sculptural work!

During this single-day workshop, Gina will walk students through her sculptural practice, demonstrating how she constructs large forms with internal supports as well as intricate wall pieces. She will show attendees a variety of flower sculpting techniques, which students will be able to practice themselves during the class, as well as wall hanging mechanisms for ceramics, and constructing and assembling sculptural flower forms. Students can expect to fashion their own floral wall piece, which the studio will fire and have available for pick up within 4-6 weeks after the event. To finish off, Gina will be sharing strategies for glaze testing and application for sculptural forms, how to prevent cracking, as well as how to cold-finish cracks.

Gina Pisto is an artist currently living and teaching in Kansas City, Missouri. She completed her Masters of Fine Arts in Ceramics at Ohio University in 2022 and has exhibited her work nationally in various group and solo exhibitions.

Gina's work explores the transportive potential of objects as they relate to notions of memory and collecting. ​Through the construction of objects, which reference still life paintings, flora, and domestic space, she examines the transformative and transportive potential of objects. Utilizing quotidian forms and materials to construct ceramic works that function as portals—gateways to the past--Gina seeks to build reminders of life, and death, woven throughout her work within the sculpted flowers, bones, animals, insects, fruit, shells, and timepieces.

If you've been looking to increase the scale of your work, surfaces, and sculptural techniques, this is the workshop for you! 

Workshop Overview:

• How to build large forms with internal supports

• Pinching and slab-building techniques

• Flower-sculpting techniques, specifically demonstrating roses, poppy, leaves, and vines

• Attaching flowers to a form, blending attachments, and how to disguise them

• Building ceramic frames and relief processes

• Wall-hanging mechanisms for ceramic pieces

• Discussion about surface and strategies for glaze testing

• Glazing methods and when to use them: spraying, bushing, sponging

• What to do when a piece cracks (and how to prevent it from happening)

The event will include breakfast refreshments and a 45-minute lunch break. Feel free to bring your own lunch, snacks, and beverages! We seek to foster a community here, so if you want to bring enough to share, we always encourage pot-luck style gatherings.

Note: While we can’t guarantee the quality and success of the pieces you make in this class, instructors will do their best to guide you through the process. Students are expected to assist with cleanup of their workspace.

Please visit our policies page for cancellation and rescheduling information.

Please note that member discounts aren't applicable for this workshop.