Reclaimed
(2025)

This project began after I’d finished a pottery class and binge-watched The Great Canadian Pottery Throwdown. At the time, I was talking to someone who loved chess, so I thought I’d make him a handmade board, I’ve always expressed care through gifts.

That talking stage ended (and ironically, I don’t even know how to play chess). But I kept going, not for him, but for me.

At first, I thought I’d use basic shapes, cylinders, triangles, spheres, to represent each piece. But as I sculpted, I found myself drawn to coiling: wrapping, stacking, layering, letting each piece take shape naturally.

Each piece took on a life of its own: the queen grew a crown of spikes, the king was wrapped in a coiled sash, the knight looped into a sculpted arc, the bishops stacked like cairns, the rooks stood as fortress forms, and the pawns, small but grounded, resembled stone barricades.

Making the pieces came naturally, but finishing the set was anything but easy. My original king and queen stuck to the kiln shelf and had to be remade. The wood I planned to use for the board warped, and I had to start over.

The board itself became its own journey. I first tried to build it entirely out of clay, but that idea collapsed before the first bisque firing. I pivoted: cutting individual clay tiles, firing them, and tiling them onto a wooden base. When the sides felt bare, I added stained glass, a last-minute decision that became one of my favorite details. I’ve always loved combining materials, and this felt like the perfect way to bring ceramic and glass together.

In the end, this set became less about the game and more about the making.

It taught me to stay present, to pivot when things fall apart, and to keep building, for myself.