Interviews

How did you discover the passion for ceramics?By accident! When I was in high school, I studied painting, and I believed that nothing could rise to its value; that painting is part of my soul and the only way of expression for me as an artist. But this had changed when in university I have met ceramics, felt in loved...

How did your experience in working on archeological sites in Jordan and Ethiopia influenced your work? My work in Jordan and Ethiopia profoundly changed my work. I went to Jordan between my undergraduate degree and my graduate degree. At that point, I was already serious about clay, and although my early training had a functional emphasis (the well known American...

You take your inspiration from nature. You are not just making a superficial observation, but you conduct a research on the things hidden to the naked eye. Tell us more about the universe you have discovered through your explorations.I am fascinated by the natural world in its widest sense and at all levels. An interest in the nature of time...

In 1975 you graduated Ceramics at the Nicolae Grigorescu Arts Institute in Bucharest. You have been active in this domain for over 35 years, all marked by a large number of exhibitions, as well as participations to international symposiums. How was this passion for ceramics born? Have you had any masters that marked your career?In the Music & Fine Arts...

What was your first contact with ceramics? The first meeting with ceramic took place when I entered the university, as I decided to take the admission exam for the Ceramics Department. The reason for this option was the liberal reputation held by the Ceramics Department, mainly due to the young teachers of various formations, who were encouraging the free investigation...

What message or emotion do you want to convey to the observer through your works? Is your artistic undertake based on a certain idea or is it more of a searching process and experimentation?For me, this process is never conscious, programmed or preconceived. It is more of a constant experiment that is absolutely instinctive. My only guides on this path...

Your work evokes artificial landscapes and strange architectural agglomerations. What is your source of inspiration? Most of my work inspired by man-made objects; something like a view of building blocks from the sky, transformer boxes out in the field, and strange formations on the roof. Recently I started to add more abstracted objects, like the connection parts of an exhaust...

You are a versatile visual artist who works in mediums such as painting, collage, video art, but also ceramics. In the process of creating a new work, do you allow yourself the freedom to change the medium of expression? Versatility it’s not entirely a positive feature, at least not for an artist. To be consequent could be in many cases...

In memoriam Eugenia PopEugenia Pop lived and worked in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, where she graduated from the Ceramics Department of “Ion Andreescu” Arts Institute in 1971. Over the course of 40 years, she had exhibited in many countries and has been awarded for her career by the Romanian Government (Order of Cultural Merit) and the Fine Arts Union.Two days after our...

Do you remember your first encounter with ceramics? What made you choose this particular way of expressing yourself?My first encounter with ceramics was when I was a child. During my family’s summer holiday, my parents would take my sister and I on a very long drive from Texas to Ohio, to visit my father’s family. I remember being so excited...

You have been working at the University of South Carolina’s McKissick Museum for over ten years. What are the main responsibilities and attributes of being the Chief Curator of Collections & Research?As Chief Curator of Collections and Research, my responsibilities include overseeing the research and care for the permanent collections. The permanent collections include natural science collections (rocks, minerals, fossils,...

You have been working with ceramic jewelry and knobs for over ten years. How did you discover the passion for beautifully crafted objects? THJane: I suppose it comes from our childhood. We grew up surrounded by photographs, books, stamps and original objects. Some had been brought up from the place where we’re born, Angola, in Africa. Our dad was an...

Growing up near the ocean around natural diversity and continuous change, you have developed a finite line of work. Do you visualize your work from the very beginning? I spend a lot of time sketching and planning. My sketches can be very specific and architectural, or very loose and gestural. But ultimately, I am an intuitive thinker. I rely on...

You are studying Industrial Design at the Holon Institute of Technology, Israel, and recently you underwent a research project on clay extrusion. What are its concepts? Tell us about the technical process.The extruding clay project started in the third year of my studies, for B.design in industrial design, when I first met the manual extruder in ceramics course. After learning...

You are strengthening your career as a ceramic artist year by year. What was your first contact with ceramics and when did you realize you have a passion for it? I took a ceramics class in my junior year in college, and that changed my world instantly. I was constantly in the studio. I had worked with wood and metal...

You are a very young ceramic artist. When did you discover the potential of this medium? Did school have an important role in directing you on this path? Like most artists. makers or craftspeople, I have been interested in art and working with my hands from a very young age. I had a fairly basic art education in secondary school...

You are presenting yourself as a sculptor even though you have a BFA in Ceramics. What are you currently working on? Although I’ve been educated in all aspects of ceramics; pottery, functional hand-building or sculpture, I’ve chosen to focus on abstract sculptural ceramics. I feel that if I say I’m a ceramicist, people either don’t know what I’m talking about...

The versatility of your work is very inspiring and makes the viewer ask himself whether he should play with your works or just to admire their universe. When did you begin to create such intricate pieces? Thank you for your kind words. I began to create interactive sculptural pieces about 7-8 years ago after I had been working in clay...

You are both a painter and a ceramic artist; is one medium closer to you than another? Both mediums have equal places in my heart. It mainly depends on the subject or idea I have; clay is sometimes better at conveying my passion or idea then paint is. There is nothing like the feel of clay in hand. I can...