Studio Spotlight: Will’s Trash Can Series
Meet Will, one of our studio volunteers and a UC Berkeley student studying Molecular Environmental Biology and landscape architecture. Between field sketches and studio sessions, he’s been developing a ceramic series recreating trash cans from around Berkeley.
About the Project
This project started with noticing. As someone who spends a lot of time doing field sketches outdoors, Will became fascinated by the subtle differences between the trash cans you pass every day. The ones managed by UC Berkeley’s waste management, the Ecology Center, and the City of Berkeley each have their own distinct form. He wanted to capture that.
You might also recognize Will from his graffiti cups and mugs. That focus continues here. The tags on each trash can are replicated from real graffiti he’s spotted around the city. He loves how the surface of the can is a canvas where a tag can exist.
The Process
Each piece starts on the wheel as a thrown cylinder. Once it reaches leather-soft, Will shapes it by hand to match the dents and indentations of a real plastic can. At the greenware stage, he applies underglaze for the base color (greens, greys, and blues). After bisque firing, he goes back in with underglaze for the tags, recommending one pass of white underneath any color so it really pops.
Advice for Your Own Practice
What we’re seeing now is the 5th iteration of this project. The previous four were never fired, they were working drafts which he recycled before bisque firing. Will is intentional about not getting too attached to early versions, and encourages others to do the same: recycle, don’t fire, until you’re making something you love.
His bigger takeaway is about presence. Sketch what’s around you. Take photos of things that catch your eye. The environment you’re in is full of form worth paying attention to and bringing to your work.