EP 1 - The Potter - The Aqeel Akber Extra Extra Extravaganza

Proudly sponsored by my own company. Get the app → https://getmeos.com/extrameos is where i keep thinking with the mic off.This episode → https://aqeelakber.com/extra/ep1All episodes → https://aqeelakber.com/extraThe Potter — a conversation with ceramic artist Daniel Leone (IG: @danielleone_art), featuring Miranda Chilver (IG: @enquicken.wellbeing). The Aqeel Akber Extra Extra Extravaganza, made by Aqeel in Canberra.In this episode🧐 The facts>> Ceramic artist Daniel Leone meets Aqeel at Mawson Gallery in Canberra, with Miranda Chilver present.>> Leone works in wood firing: flame paths, falling ash, carbon, and kiln atmosphere shape the clay.>> One firing can take fifteen people feeding timber across a week, after weeks of preparation.>> He builds with slag and breakage rather than discarding work after rare, labour-intensive firings.>> Bonsai pots hold sculptural succulents — codiciform plants — layering soft form on gnarled surfaces.🍃 Between the factsThe talk drifts from pyrometry and glaze chemistry into what cannot be controlled or fully understood. Leone describes wood firing as mostly guesswork, then contrasts perfect crockery with surfaces marked by ash, salt, and accident. A gallery walkthrough turns technical detail into something tactile: wadding scars, flame paths, and pots that look ordinary until a plant sits inside them.🌬️ Beyond the factsPottery here is less about mastering the kiln than learning to read what the fire and ash leave behind. The thread runs from childhood play through adult pressure about what art ought to be, and back toward freedom without abandoning craft. Brokenness and volatility become part of the work rather than evidence of failure.🔥 Why you should listenThe full conversation has room to wander from Canberra gallery floors to the mental shift of stopping the fight with nature. Leone’s account of rare firings, wasted pieces, and deliberate collaboration with randomness needs the longer arc to land. Stay for how science, labour, bonsai, and temperament keep circling the same question: what to do when you cannot force the outcome.dsq.studio