We sat down with ceramicist and chess set designer, Ian Dudley from Mugshot Studio, on curiosity-driven making, the art of failing faster, and why his ducks still aren't quite in a row...
UT: When you’re staring at a mould, is there a clear plan—or are you just backing yourself to figure it out?
ID: It’s a lot of testing shapes and knowing that I probably won’t like the first few versions of whatever chess set I am working on. So, less of a clear plan and more of a process that will help me get closer to something I think is cool. I would love to hit a home run the first time, it would be much cheaper and less time-intensive. But with clay, and my working style, my motto has become ‘fail faster’. I know the perfect version exists of whatever random idea I am making, I just need to find all the ways I don’t like it before I find the one where I do.
UT: You spend a lot of time working through ideas before they’re realised. What usually sparks the very beginning of a piece?
ID: It most often starts with trying to imagine something that doesn’t exist. And it’s a way for me to answer questions of myself and about my art. When I started designing a chess set, the inspiration was based on my desire to know what a chess set would look like if I was able to make all the design decisions. And at the same time, trying to expand my skills so I could more easily make the things that I wanted. So much of what I do is strongly rooted in curiosity and exploration. Sometimes it’s an idea that has been bouncing around my head for years and then finally finds its way out, and other times it’s that passing thought that I must immediately act upon (the duck chess set was one of the latter).
UT: Does working with clay make you more patient, or just better at dealing with things going wrong?
ID: It has made me more patient overall, and more importantly it teaches you to not be attached to your work. Ceramics is fragile and things can go wrong during multiple points (making the piece, bisque firing, glazing, etc.). So, when things do go wrong, you learn to shrug it off and try again. Once you have less fear of losing a piece it frees you to try new things and get better faster, because if it fails, that just means you get the opportunity to try something new again. And I think that is pretty cool.
UT: What’s something you’re chasing in your work right now that you haven’t quite nailed yet?
ID: The duck chess set. I have done three different drafts of it, and none of them have felt like the final version. I have been working on it for the last year, and I recently finished a new design for the ducks that I think might be the final set. But I haven’t glazed them yet so there may still be some final adjustments to the pieces before I am satisfied. My ducks are currently not in a row.
UT: Does your work feel like it’s shifting in any direction at the moment?
ID: I think that is the perpetual struggle. I often get categorized as the chess guy, but that is just one slice of the pie. It’s just that I haven’t had time for the rest of the pie. I love sculpting and making mugs and vases, and I have so many ideas that are just waiting for when I have time and energy. I guess the overall direction is one of whimsy. I like to make things that make people stop and want to pick it up.
UT: What’s been catching your attention lately?
ID: I have recently started chasing colour a lot more. I have always enjoyed it, but more recently I have been looking for richer purples, blues and reds to add to my repertoire. I need those candy colours in my life, I want colours that look radioactive, without the nuclear fallout.
UT: What’s something people might not realise about how your work comes together?
ID: Almost everything I do starts with a sketch that I will mostly ignore when I make a 3D model of the object. The model then will sit on my computer for several weeks as I look at it and can’t figure out what I don’t like about it, I just know it’s not what I want. After a few more weeks of this I will either scrap it, or just say to hell with it and make a 3D printable mould. This is what I will later use to make a silicone mould and then a plaster mould for casting clay. At this point in the process the finished piece usually gives me enough motivation to continue tweaking it and remaking it until it ‘looks right’, it’s all very technical like that.
