Hiya!

Tell us a little about yourself, who are you and what do you do?

I am a Brazilian ceramic artist; I am 25 years old and have just graduated from [my degree in] Visual Arts. In college, I fell in love with pottery, and since 2016 I have worked essentially [only] with it. Working with ceramics is to dedicate yourself entirely, with body and soul. Ceramics is a vast universe, either in its practice or in its history, that's why I see myself as a potter, ceramist and artist. For me, my work has a narrative, and it is my self-biography. My [sculptures] are animals that symbolise some moment of my life, and my utilitarian pottery is to reconnect with my Japanese roots and my family history. 

What does an average day look like for you?

As I live in the same place where I work, my schedules tend to be very flexible. The clay has its own time; I always need to be attentive to its delicacies. Each day is dedicated to the needs of my ceramics work: one day is its production, another is the finishing and other days are recycling, firing, glazing and firing a second time. It's a long work cycle. Because of that, my daily life usually is a response to the demands of my work.

My mornings tend to be calmer; the first thing I do as soon as I wake up is make the bed. I've heard somewhere that for a good day at work we have to make the bed as soon as we wake up, because we start the day cultivating a good habit! After that, I take a hot shower to wake up and take care of my cats while planning my daily schedule. In the afternoon, I work as a potter in my home studio, and at night, I stop working to do some cooking, take care of my cats and chill out with my partner.

What turning point in your career do you consider your "big break"?

My career is still very short! And it has been a process of an accumulation of experiences. Perhaps, the turning point of my career was when I started to talk openly about my work on social networks. I enjoy talking about my creative process, explaining the reason for my choices and teaching a little about what ceramics really are.

Studying to chemically formulate my own glazes was something that truly changed my view about ceramics. Glaze is the glassy surface, which protects, gives colour and waterproofs the fired clay. Did you know that we can make these glazes with wood ashes? And each tree gives us different glazes? To turn the ash into glaze, I have to treat it by washing it, sifting it and mixing it with some quartz and other raw materials. It's wonderful to do an artwork using things that are unexpected and organic.

In my view, ceramics is a reconnection with all the natural elements. 

What advice do you have for striking a work/life balance?

This is my current struggle. Sharing the living space with the working area is part of many artists lives; creating a routine is essential to be able to enjoy the best of both worlds. Maintaining the balance between personal life and work is a constant battle. Lately, what is working for me is creating a schedule for the week. On Mondays, I'm completely alone at home, so I spend my time working on new projects and get my hands dirty. On Tuesday, I work as an assistant in a community centre in the morning and after I continue to work on my latest project. Wednesday is very similar to Monday. On Thursday, I study glaze with my study group and finally on Friday it's my free day to do life's necessities. On weekends I still work, but not much, and I prioritise resting and spend quality time with my family and my pets.

What anxieties, if any, do you hold about your life/career? And how do you deal with them?

In Brazil, ceramics began to awaken popular interest a short time ago, so I see myself in a place that grows a lot every day, and it has been an interesting journey to follow the future of ceramics. However, now many people are aware that pottery artisans and the tableware industry are different. An artisan with a small studio can't compete with the structure of a factory, what a craftsman does in a month of work the factory does in a day. But even so, few people understand this, and it is difficult to explain why the price of a handmade piece is three times higher than an industrial piece. Due to this difficulty, I end up diversifying my work, selling my pieces for those who are willing to buy and will really appreciate them.

How has the current COVID-19 situation affected your industry, and your work personally? How have you dealt with it?

I've always been a homely person, and I've been working at home for the past two years, so confinement hasn't been very difficult. However, all exhibition plans, craft fairs, courses and group projects were cancelled or postponed.

Besides that, São Paulo has thousands of deaths recorded by COVID-19, so it is very stressful to leave home.

What does productivity look like to you, and what tips do you have for managing your time?

When I decided to be a ceramist, I tried to be as productive as I could. While I was in college, I taught ceramics on a Social Project; I was a professor's assistant; I was doing an Internship in a school and doing a lot of extra courses to learn new ceramics techniques. I didn't want to waste time, and I still was feeling that it wasn't enough.

One day I started to realise that I was getting upset very easily, and I was losing interest in doing what I love. Then I realised that I misunderstood the meaning of "productivity". I wasn't a productive person—I was a rushed one. Understanding that quantity and quality are not the same things was the best response to improve my work. Today I understand that it is necessary to have a balance, and I have much more security with myself professionally, things tend to be lighter.

How do you deal with procrastination?

Procrastination is a very upsetting thing to fight. I often catch myself procrastinating under the excuse of "reference searching" to waste time on social networks. Procrastination is an escape from reality. When I detect that I am doing something that it's not usual for me, like organising things while in the middle of working or starting to read some random news, I know I'm running from the boring parts of work. When I realise that I'm running away from something, I usually make a deal with myself. Either I finish the work I'm not doing, or I'm going to do something even more boring that is pending, like washing my dirty clay tools or recycling the tonnes of clay that is resting in my backyard. Regardless of my choice, it's always is a win-win situation.

What do you consider your biggest failure? And how did you persevere and grow from the experience?

My biggest problem for sure is comparing myself with others. Our world is so interconnected it is impossible not to be exposed to comparisons and insecurities.

Last year, I built my own ceramic kiln, and the first firing I'd made was a huge failure. I felt so frustrated! I started thinking about people who fire with their own kiln and have such wonderful pieces. I felt that I was the problem, that I wasn't that good in comparison to those big artists. Sometime after I swallowed the feeling of failure and asked these people what I'd done wrong, and each one responded to me with their own failing kiln story, and they were all very similar to my experience. It made me see that comparison is something that lives in my mind, and I wasn't treating myself with respect.

I still tend to compare myself to others, but I try to keep in mind that when I feel this vibe, someone is probably feeling that same way about me. Because of that, I try to share my work process on my Instagram account. My thoughts, my failures and my solutions, to be closer to the ones who can relate with my experiences and create a network of more support and less distress. 

What's the best and worst advice you've ever been given?

There is no symbolic phrase that I can remember. I think the best advice comes from people who understand me and wish for my success, and the worst comes from people who want me around for their interests or are just waiting for me to fail.

Are there any misconceptions about what you do that you'd like to dispel or clarify?

The biggest of all is the main popular reference about pottery, which is the 90s movie Ghost. There's nothing romantic about working with ceramics, it's neither sensual nor sexual! I know it's an iconic reference to remember love beyond life, but in real life, ceramics is a very serious, delicate and complex work. Another misconception is that working with clay is therapeutic and relaxing, it is very satisfying to create something with your own hands, but in the beginning, it is frustrating and requires a lot of patience.

How do you navigate social media, any rules or guidelines you set for yourself?

I like to start my day looking for work references on Pinterest. Instagram for me is a workspace, so I navigate in it just when I share something related to my work or need to answer someone. Instagram is the best tool to reach my favourite artists or to be with those who enjoy my ceramics. The algorithm of my Facebook means only videos of puppies and kittens pop out on my page, so it's more a place where I like to chill. Those are the social media [platforms] that I use the most. But I don't set up any guidelines to navigate in them. 

L+A xx

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