Seiberg '04 sculpts studio into ceramics workshop open to all

Descending the murky staircase of 1938 Hall, one would expect to find nothing more than an electrical room or storage area. Instead, a world of clay, glaze, and sculpted creations awaits. Effie Seiberg '04 has revolutionized the use of the ceramic studio in Wilson College by creating workshops for interested members of the Princeton community.

"Workshops aren't in the job description," says Seiberg, whose official job is to manage the studio. "I saw that there were a lot of people who would be interested in using the studio, but felt that they couldn't because they didn't have any prior experience with clay."

A native of Princeton, Seiberg has been sculpting since age 7, when her mother signed her up in a pottery class at the Princeton Arts Council. As a high school freshman, she began volunteering to teach small children how to make pottery in summer camps and after-school programs.

Last year at Princeton, she took over as manager of the ceramic studio and developed workshops to demonstrate the techniques she has learned and developed over her 12-year career.

"It's more of a 'how-to' class," Seiberg says. "People come and kind of learn what they want."

For three hours on Thursdays and Fridays, Seiberg opens the ceramic studio to all interested members of the University community, from undergraduates to professors, regardless of theirprior experience with clay. The workshops are typically composed of eight people, but Seiberg has taught as many as 15 at a time.

"There's lots of individual attention," says Seiberg. "It can get exhausting, but I really enjoy it."

Though she teaches formal techniques, showing her students how to use one of the three pottery wheels and how to "hand-build" a sculpture on a flat surface, Seiberg encourages workshop attendees to run with their imaginations in creating projects.

"People can make whatever they feel like," Seiberg says, indicating the vast array of unfinished pieces created in her workshops, ranging from miniature bumble bees to bowls to the letters "PTON."

After the newly-made pieces have hardened — a state called "greenware" — Seiberg fires them in a decagonal oven called a kiln. Workshop participants then apply glaze to their pottery, which gets heated in the kiln twice more before exhibiting a glossy, smooth finish.

"This is going to be black and white," Seiberg says as she points to a maroon and white vase. "The color looks completely different after firing."

In her own pottery, Seiberg is currently experimenting with different textures and additive components. One of her techniques involves taking pieces of broken bottles and placing them on the bottom of the a pot she has just sculpted. When the glass melts, a smooth layer is formed.

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Seiberg often finds inspiration in trips to art museums, but she truly believes that ideas for ceramic sculptures can come from anywhere.

"It can be an interesting pattern in a leaf or an artist whose work I really love," Seiberg says. She says she particularly admires the works of the glass artist Dale Chihuly and the abstract painter Victor Vasarely, a pioneer of the optical art movement.

Majoring in philosophy, Seiberg is unsure of her career plans, but does want to pursue art in some capacity after Princeton.

"I'm hoping to do something that involves some sort of visual creativity," says Seiberg.

This semester, Seiberg is taking her first visual arts class at Princeton — Introductory Sculpture. While the emphasis is on problem-solving rather than technique, the course (like the workshops she teaches herself) meets twice a week for three hours.

"Now I've got twelve hours of forced relaxation [per week] instead of just six," Seiberg says with a smile.

Beyond clay ceramics, Seiberg also creates sculptures out of wire and a colored polymer material called Fimo. For amateur sculptors, however, Seiberg finds that clay is the simplest medium.

To those interested in starting ceramics, Seiberg says, "Just go for it. It's relaxing and stress-relieving."

She adds, "In the end, they can have gifts to give their friends and family."

Seiberg holds studio hours on Thursdays from 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. and Fridays from 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. in the basement of 1938 Hall, Wilson College. Her assistant, Trish Morlan '05, also holds hours on Tuesdays from 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. and from Wednesdays from 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Seiberg invites all interested members of the University community to email her for more information.