Originally published in Ceramics Art & Perception.

In order for an artist’s work to stay current and interesting – both for the viewer and the artist – some change is essential. Sometimes the change is radical, but often it is more subtle. For nearly 30 years, the work of Lithuanian-born ceramic artist Rimas VisGirda has been evolving. His ceramic pieces are almost cubist in design, and his unique angular style creates unusual forms on which he paints satiric narratives to describe his vision of life.

After receiving his MFA in ceramics, VisGirda spent 25 years teaching at colleges and universities. Because he was teaching sculpture and drawing as well as ceramics, his work included all three disciplines. "I found myself drawing or decorating surfaces of the vessels and then I began to change the forms of the vessels – to simplify them and change their shapes – so they would make better surfaces for my drawings."

VisGirda’s pieces are complex and his multi-fired processes take time and patience. He prefers high-fire ceramics because "high-fire clay has integrity, and the hardness and depth of surface cannot be duplicated." He also likes to use a bright palette of colour, which is difficult to achieve in high temperature firing. To create the effect he wants, VisGirda developed a process that combines both high and low-fire and which may require as many as 20 firings.

Throughout his career, VisGirda has involved himself in residency programs at various locations and attended numerous symposiums. "In 1988, I visited the Soviet Union as a guest of the USSR Union of Artists and have been to a number of symposiums in Eastern Europe during the ensuing years. Symposiums, most often held in factories, are an opportunity for me to meet new colleagues and exchange ideas and philosophies, as well as experience a different cultural and social environment."

VisGirda states that when he participates in a symposium, he allows the experience to influence his work, both technically and ideologically. "Technically, I experiment with various ways of using the materials available at the particular venue. I try throwing and handbuilding the unfamiliar clays, as well as using pre-made forms available to me at the factories. I also try to incorporate technology available at these factories to create pieces. Ideologically, I try to incorporate the influences of daily life, social interaction and the physical surroundings of the new environment into my work. The visual resolution of the finished work is a combination of past and new experiences."

Attending two porcelain symposiums in the Czech Republic during 1994 and 1997 brought a new focus to VisGirda’s work. The 1994 symposium was held at the EPIAG-Dalovice Factory in Karlovy Vary, an old resort town, and the 1997 symposium was at LEANDER 1946 in Loucky, a small village about 10 km from Karlovy Vary.

While working at these factories, VisGirda discovered decals. "I had made some decals a long time ago – back in the ‘70s – but not ceramic decals. When I was at the 1994 symposium, I was snooping around the large factory and found the section which made the decals for the porcelain that was produced in the factory. I asked if they would make a decal for me. The process was technical and I learnt something of the complexities. These decals were strictly for the decoration of souvenirs. I decorated about 80 factory-made demitasse cups with my decals and gave them to the symposium participants and factory workers." VisGirda and his wife, Billie Theide, attended the 1997 symposium together. "Billie discovered an entire room in this factory filled with drawers upon drawers of decals. Some of the decals dated back to the 1930s and ’40s."

VisGirda was drawn to the small flower decals he found because he likes the overall floral pattern of chintz. He hired one of the factory decorators to put these tiny individual decals on one of his pieces. "It probably would have taken me several days to cover that pot. The experienced factory decorator finished it in about an hour and a half." During this symposium, VisGirda continued to experiment with the decals for background and decoration.

After VisGirda returned home, he discovered that not only did his interest in using decals continue, but others were also interested. He took the information he already had, experimented, and taught himself more. "I was teaching at the time, and my students also wanted to learn how to make ceramic decals. That’s where it began, and now I am giving workshops around the country."

VisGirda has developed a straightforward, simplified approach to making ceramic decals. "I’ve discovered that you don’t need expensive or special equipment. I’ve developed a decal technology that is quick and can be performed economically in a well-ventilated home studio, kitchen or basement."

VisGirda’s new work reflects his growing interest in decals. His signature style has not changed but both his own decals as well as commercial decals are now added for background and embellishment. He is also, to a limited extent, using some details in his main imagery.

According to VisGirda, the major advantage of decals for the ceramist is the ability to transfer one’s own or others’ artwork to ceramic pieces and to replicate that image on as many pieces as desired. "While it takes some time and effort to create the first image, hundreds of exact duplicates can be made instantly. By mixing and matching a number of images on the same piece, a series of ideas or even a complex story can be told easily many times." VisGirda sees decals as a useful tool to help convey a message or concept through art and engage the viewer’s attention.

Next > Rimas VisGirda’s Decal Process for Ceramics

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