Her work now takes forms that echo that off-balance sensibility. It appears, for example, in a vessel perched in a seemingly precarious way on a zigzagging base. These international residencies are unusual in the art world, perhaps unique to artists who work in clay. Also, clay is a demanding medium that is never really under the control of the artist, says Zirbes. With firing, the exact results are uncertain.
Flexibility has to be part of the mental set of people who work in clay.
The residencies vary in size. The smallest she attended had four artists, the largest thirty. They include demonstrations and lectures, and the artists are expected to make works for an exhibition at the end of the conference. But their time is largely unstructured. People walk around and observe others at work.