Geochemical Formations: high temperature crystal growth

Sally Resnik Rockriver generates chemical reactions in blown glass 
and ceramics, allowing geological laws to determine the content of 
her work. She has redefined the aesthetic parameters of glass and 
ceramics by removing them from traditional genres and placing them 
into the realm of geochemical science. Rockriver arrives at a new 
form that she refers to as Geochemical Sculpture, in which 
compostions are controlled by thermal processes. At Rome Arts, 
she presents glass columns with a crystalline core, calcite cave 
formations, ceramic crystal slabs, salt-blown spheres, and handmade 
rocks. These formations are an outgrowth of an experimental 
framework that accentuates the heating and cooling tendencies of 
particular chemicals. The works capture the high temperature moment 
at which they were created, echoing the birth of planets and the 
frozen life inside them.

Sally Resnik Rockriver received an MFA from Hunter College and 
taught as Head of Ceramics at Moorhead State University, Minnesota. 
She is the founder and director of Resnik Thermal Lab (Chapel Hill, NC), 
a glass blowing school and ceramics research facility that emphasizes 
the intersection of art and science. Revealing new phenomena in the 
art of science, Rockriver is a pioneer in the history of her medium.

Processes:
Crystalline Glaze Paintings and Photographic details:
dimensions: 10"-36"hw.,6"d.
Zinc silicate crystals are formed at 2000 Fahrenheit on an undulating 
sheet of clay. Cooling this ceramic glaze very slowly allows it to 
develop complex crystalline surfaces. The clay sculpture directs the 
flow of the glaze and utilizes gravity to influence the final 
concentration and growth pattern. The glaze paintings capture the 
moment in which a liquid transforms into a solid. Identical to geode 
formation in nature, various chemical compositions crystallize at 
different temperatures, creating "growth rings" with the highest 
temperature crystal in the center of the ring

Calcite Formations:
dimensions: 14"- 30’’ hwd.
Calcite glazes drip from the ceiling of a ceramic sculpture and grow 
into frozen cicles. As these glazes start to melt and dribble into 
formations, they are solidified by sudden cooling in the ceramic kiln. 
After the firing, this calcite product will oxidize and develop 
hair-like crystals.

Salt Vapor Spheres: (VIDEO)
dimensions: 6-18'"hwd
Ceramic salts are trapped into molten glass and the heated salts 
release a gas. The salt gas pressure blows bubble. The resulting form 
is a spherical object with exploded salt pellets encapsulated in the 
interior.

Ceramic Glaze and Glass Vessels:
dimensions: 8"-18"h
Dried ceramic glazes are poured into a glass vessel during the 
blowing process. The glazes bubble, fuse, melt, and crystallize. 
The altered surface will form differing textures depending on the 
amount heating and coefficient of expansion and contraction.

Installations of Geochemical Artifacts:
dimensions: variable
Objects that result from experiments in the studio lab and become 
research artifacts. Extending over a period of time,  installations 
are installed in the studio as an accumulation of Rockriver's 
geochemical research.