Bio - Joe Rafla

Bio
Joe Rafla

Fortunately, I continue to find clay an engaging material for the foundation of a creative and technical studio practice.

I started working with clay in the studio some years after graduating civil engineering school at BCIT; it was a natural extension of my specialization and field work as a geotech on tunnels, railway lines, and hydro towers. I was very fortunate to apprentice for three years with a production potter (in the best sense of the term) named D'Arcy Margesson. His knowledge of glazes and clay-bodies, and his generosity were invaluable at many stages of my development.

I then started The Blue Nile Tile & Pottery Co. in east Van, which became Architext Ceramica; both were production and training studios on Granville Island, Vancouver, B.C.

I have an MA in digital humanities from McGill University which has led to an interest in the humanistic potential of 3D ceramic printing (CLAYBOTS), and its intersection with clay-body compositions.The work on this site represents 25 years of making. My current work draws on all of my previous experience.