Ceramics

Lansing Wagner

Lansing has been making pots for nearly 30 years, much of that time spent at the Harvard Ceramics Studio, where he worked regularly in a space he describes as truly special. Alongside ceramics, he has a background in scientific illustration, and that love of careful observation often appears in his work through playful, finely drawn creatures and thoughtful surface details. He is especially drawn to making large bowls, appreciating both their usefulness and the generous surfaces they offer for drawing and storytelling.

Soda firing has long been Wagner’s first love. In this process, a sodium carbonate solution is introduced into a blazing-hot kiln, where it vaporizes and seeks out the silica in the clay to form a natural glaze. Along the way, flame, slips, and oxides all interact in unpredictable ways. Meticulously applied details may be softened, transformed, or unexpectedly brought into focus, making each firing a leap of faith and ensuring that every piece is truly one of a kind.

After retiring, Wagner moved his practice to a home studio in East Blue Hill, Maine, where he continues to explore both chance and control in his work. Because soda firings happen only a few times each year, he has also embraced cone 6 porcelain, using blue slip, carving, sgraffito, and water etching to create relief drawings finished with warm amber celadon glazes. Working between his home studio and the soda kiln at Watershed, Wagner approaches each piece with curiosity, patience, and a deep affection for the process—finding joy in the balance between careful intention and the surprises that only fire can deliver.