Mayma Awaida of Silver Prncss Studio

Your style is both decorative and conceptual, taking the viewer on a sensory journey that indirectly addresses themes such as time, antiquity, ancestral memories, and the unfinished. Could you elaborate on the inspiration behind the worlds you depict?

I consider my ceramic practice to be complementary to my work as an Arts Manager, the latter of which can often be heavily delivery-focused. Time has a different meaning when I am working with clay and I have had to become very comfortable with it not always being on my terms. The medium itself demands a particular level of attention, nurture, and slowness which in a sculptural sense translates to pieces that demonstrate the physicality of being hand-built. I'm also conscious that the way I make and respond to work is heavily influenced by my lived experience of migration. As I consider my own feelings of displacement, I'd like to think that my work strikes a similar aesthetic balance between fantasy and the familiar. Each piece is intended to resemble a form which invites play and curiosity, while alluding to deep ancestral memory.

Lauren Jane Salt of Volim 

You create with a holistic and oneiric vision. The shapes of your pieces are challenging to define in a traditional ceramic sense, coupled with unique color combinations. Through your multidisciplinary label VOLIM, mediums of clay, plants, and textiles coexist. Could you elaborate on how these themes inspire your art?

I began in floristry drawing inspiration from practices such as ikebana. In these practices the form of the materials lead the direction of the work. I guess you could say I experience clay in a similar way - especially with my sculptures. Sometimes I may feel forms bubbling from within when beginning a work, then later find myself at the whim and guidance of the clays movement ending up with a completely different composition than anticipated. These are some of the many joys I find in working with clay. 

Victoria Paxton

Your work blends fluidity, femininity, and strength with an organic element. What attracts you to this particular aesthetic?

We are living in such a fast pace world at the moment, everything is goal oriented, focused, strong, structured, logical and driven. I think my soul is searching for slowing down, observe the nature and create from my heart. The flow of my pieces cannot always be predicted or explained with a rational mind, as it aspires to generate an emotional connection. Also, living close to nature helps with creativity. I get inspired observing its beauty everyday which often leads to new projects. Observing flowers/leaves just simply taking everything from Mother Nature. 

Golnaz Ganjian of Zzen Studio

As a florist and ceramist, your craft intertwines nature, rawness, and imperfection. How do you interpret ceramics through these elements?

As a ceramist inspired by nature, I infuse my craft with the organic essence of the natural world. I often incorporate textures, colours, and forms reminiscent of elements like flowers, leaves, and landscapes into my ceramic pieces. The rawness and imperfection become central to my work, embracing the beauty of asymmetry, irregular shapes, and the natural variability inherent in clay and the creative process. This approach allows me to create pieces that capture the essence of nature while celebrating its imperfections and uniqueness.

Anika Kalotay and Serena Pangestu of Kura Studio

Your studio name derives from the Indonesian meaning of "tortoise." Is there significance to the name, and can you tell us how your background as architects influences your discipline as ceramists?

The word Kura is an ode to Serena's Indonesian heritage. Her culture and our experiences in travelling around rural Indonesia is a source of great inspiration for us. Symbolically, a tortoise serves as a reminder to ourselves that life is precious and that we should move at a steady but progressive pace, making sure to stay curious about our surroundings and to enjoy the little moments in day-to-day life. Our architectural backgrounds laid the foundations in our passion for living and good design, influencing the way we make ceramics and the way our work takes physical form. Clay to us is a medium that we use to explore design, inspired by the essence of what a good home is to a person, a mug to a hand and a vase to a flower. These objects have the power to elevate the every day through good and thoughtful design.

Can you tell us about the process behind the selection of colours and rich textures for your ceramic work?

My approach to colour and texture in my work is largely the result of seeking to push the boundary of what’s considered beautiful and ugly, as well as always working to push myself outside of my own comfort zone. During the process of creating, I’m very much guided by an intangible gut feeling – I rarely have a clear vision for my pieces ahead of time. As such, my work is almost a catalogue of my life: an abundance of chaotic, colourful glazes is a glimpse into my turbulent inner life, an expression of boundless joy or the manifestation of rage at the world, while a restrained approach can reveal a state of sadness, hopelessness or contentment.

Naomi Kido of Do Pottery

Creating ceramic pieces with a sentimental approach, a nostalgic recreation of Japanese ceramic tradition and your hometown. Can you tell us how your heritage inspires your practice?

We appreciate the blessings of the four seasons and eat seasonal food. In the same way, we choose and use dishes according to food, season and purpose. A life style that nestle close to our seasonal daily life is what inspires the creation of our ceramics.

Beverley lles

Your unusual pieces evoke a connection to places, landscape, and the environment. Can you tell us how the search for unconventional materials is a key element in your creative practice?

I search for and use unconventional materials in my art practice for many reasons. Sometimes they help illustrate a conceptual point about the environment, for example, collecting and using materials from places on the Contaminated Sites Register. Often materials help me explore a place, as with the use of found brick fragments, which act as a record of the Midland area’s industrial history. Using found and local materials is a way to reduce my environmental footprint by reusing materials, reducing waste, reducing my use of commercially packaged and shipped materials, and rescuing industrial and construction waste. I find materials very evocative, and they can have an almost shamanistic quality. When I use these materials it triggers memories of the place and time I collected them.

Sonja Danilovic of Sole Ceramics

Your minimalist approach to colors and shapes informs a key element of your practice, as demonstrated in your cups, which are functional yet conceptual pieces. Can you tell us why you pursued ceramics with this vision?

It's a pretty humble beginning, we were opening a little cafe with our friend Helen, I was looking for handmade cups but couldn't find any here that are minimal and understated so I optimistically grabbed a bag of clay and started hand building cups, they were kind of ok, but a bit too organic looking, so I got a second hand wheel, and started to learn to throw, it is a lot harder than it looks. That was maybe 6 years ago, and the cups keep evolving. I think the style or essence is similar, understated with a little bit of surprise, like the chunk cups for those big cups of tea, or a cold brew that you drink the whole day.