The effect of András Koncz-Münich’s artistic ceramic creations on the viewer is very strong, with special scenographic and sculptural connotations. Some works make you think of formations of primordial matter, with structures and conglomerates arranged sometimes in tension, sometimes in harmony with each other. Some look like artifacts of an advanced civilization from another time, past or future. Certainly in his art you can capture the unity between spirit and matter, a unique plastic imprint, an impeccable technical process and a fine playful accent, the fruits of a thorough study of traditional and contemporary ceramic techniques, but also of continuous experimentation.

In addition to his artistic activity, András is involved in research, art education and psycho-pedagogical counseling programs, holding workshops and workshops on ceramic techniques.
Koncz-Münich András Koncz-Münich András, originally from Bistrița and trained in Cluj at the Ceramics-Silk-Metal section of the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca, is one of the most complex contemporary ceramists in the East-European circuit.

When did you first think or set out to become a ceramist?
It was by chance that I was admitted to the ceramics department of the art university in Cluj, but during my studies I began to like this field more and more and it became my favorite form of artistic expression.

Can you tell us about what it was like and how you felt when you participated for the first time in a ceramics exhibition?
I think the gallery of the International Ceramic Studio (ICS) center in Kecskemét was my first participation in a specific ceramics exhibition in 2004, I was very impressed by the facilities of that ceramics center, the valuable artworks in the exhibition and also in the ICS Kecskemét warehouses. In the country I would mention my first participation in the national ceramics biennial organized by UAP at the Cluj Art Museum in 2012, but of course I also participated in other more general exhibitions. And the first personal exhibition of ceramics that I remember fondly took place in 1999 at the County Museum in Bistrița. The exhibition “Denivelări”, which was later presented at the Galeria Veche in Cluj, was the result of a project realized together with my wife Koncz-Münich Judith, during which we experimented with various natural clays found in the area, we made several experimental firings in pits or in improvised kilns…

What do you like to be called, ceramicist, potter or visual artist and why?
I have a great respect for the potters who, as few as there are left, try to preserve the tradition of pottery in the countryside. The name “potter” has rather this connotation of a folk craftsman; although I like to work on the potter’s wheel and I like to teach others to “pull the wheel” – as they say – I don’t think I can be called a potter. The name artist doesn’t make me very happy either (it reminds me of a circus artist). Visual artist is perhaps more acceptable nowadays for a visual arts university graduate who can easily move on to different visual artistic mediums of expression. The name ceramist in Romanian is justified for someone who deals with ceramics, but in English I prefer “ceramic artist” and not “ceramicist” or “potter”.

What does ceramics mean to you?
Ceramics is my favorite medium of expression but also my favorite medium of teaching at school or in the courses for adults that I teach both at Espresso Studio and in collaboration with the Ronda Association. Ceramics is also a way to maintain emotional balance, good for counseling and art therapy.

What do you think is the most important quality of ceramic art?
It combines different fields of art with technique, science and experimentation, while at the same time being part of human culture since its inception. It is also an excellent pedagogical method, school counseling and psycho-pedagogical assistance, unfortunately insufficiently exploited (almost totally neglected in our country).

What are your sources of inspiration?
Nature, history, archaeology, geology, astronomy, geometry, art history, modern and contemporary art, archaic and folk pottery.

Which ceramic materials do you like to use most and why?
Lately I use lightly chammated clays of different colors for space constructions, often I also use paperclay, and for pottery a vitrus with higher plasticity without chamotte.

Do you use more industrial techniques and technologies dedicated to ceramics or more manual working techniques? What do you think are their pros and cons?
I use less industrial technologies and more manual techniques, possibly the potter’s wheel, clay extrusion press, plaster shapes I create myself. I believe that objects created by hand are more expressive, more natural, more unique, incomparably more valuable than those mass-produced with industrial technologies.

Can you give us an example of archaic pottery that you particularly appreciate and what is it about it that appeals to you?
I really like archaic pottery, from the Japanese Jomon, Minoan and ancient Greek pottery to Neolithic pottery such as the Cucuteni.

What do you think about the pottery of the Cucuteni-Tripole civilization?
It’s particularly beautiful, very rich in expressive shapes and with that unmistakable spiral linear decoration full of magic.

What do you think are three of the most important ceramic events in the world?
It’s hard to choose which ones are the most important, maybe Ceramic Art London, the Korea International Ceramics Biennale or the Faenza International Ceramics Competition.

Which ceramics event or gallery do you dream of exhibiting at and why?
I don’t have a dream to exhibit somewhere in particular, it would be a dream come true to exhibit and be successful at any major event dedicated to ceramics, to succeed in creating valuable ceramic objects with which to be accepted in an international circuit of artistic ceramics.

How would you describe your job in three words?
Passion, hard work and creativity.

What do you think are three of the most important qualities a visual artist should have?
They should have a good command of several artistic mediums of expression, be it photography, painting, ceramics, sculpture or new media technologies.

What do you think about Romanian ceramics?
It still doesn’t have a wide enough audience, as the technical facilities needed for a ceramics studio prevent many art university graduates from starting a career in this field. In mainstream schools, students do not have access to pottery classes and thus entire generations remain without any contact with this field, so in the future there will not be many pottery amateurs or lovers. It is missing the middle class of amateurs, consumers, those who would also practice ceramics as a hobby. Pity. But there is a wave of ceramics enthusiasts, creators and consumers out there, and they can make things right.

What do you think are the needs of the ceramic artist?
The ceramic artist needs a technically well-equipped studio (necessarily with an electric kiln). It needs easy access to specific materials: clays, glazes etc. and, most importantly, it needs an interested public to appreciate and buy its creations.

What would you recommend to younger ceramists to help them find their way in their career?
I recommend them to try to work more in groups, to equip well a bigger ceramic workshop that they can use together. The costs of starting up a workshop are very high, but if they share these costs or together access some of the funds to equip the workshop, they could be more successful.

Which ceramic artist or artists have inspired you throughout your career or are a reference point?
Jakobovits Márta Márta, Beate Kuhn, Eugenia Pop, Peter Voulkos, Bernard Leach, Hans Coper, Edmund de Waal, Hiromu Okuda and many others.

Interview by Letiția Câmpan.

Articolul András Koncz-Münich – Interview apare prima dată în caolinArt.

Gavril Zmicală is a reference name for Romanian artistic ceramics, with extensive experience also on the industrial front (at Iris and Sanex), and represents a link between different generations of ceramic artists from Cluj. For several years at the helm of the “Romul Ladea” High School of Visual Arts, Zmicală is a tireless teacher who knows how to be close to his students without the risk of losing his authority, with a rare pedagogical talent and a charisma often mentioned and certified by his former disciples.
The secret of this appeal to students, at a time when young people are becoming increasingly blasé, lies not only in the competence acquired after decades of exploration, but above all in Zmicală’s contagious passion for ceramics and its various possibilities of “understanding the living”, as he himself puts it.
For those who get to know him, Zmicală seems a kind of personification of the ceramic material, malleable and versatile at first, but intrinsically solid and definitive, resistant through firing.
Zmicală’s modeling skill, playfulness and conceptual clarity are impressive. His hand-crafted anthropomorphic busts and figurines reach a level of finesse that rivals the precision of industrial techniques and surpasses them in originality and refinement.
In spite of his duties as director and teacher, “Zmic” remains attached to the workshop and devotes part of his energy to promoting ceramic culture nationally and internationally.

When did you first think or set out to become a ceramist?
At the end of the High School of Fine Arts, in the 80s, when art education was on the verge of extinction, I had two options: graphic or ceramics. Having in high school a ceramics teacher with a very strong personality in the person of Mrs. Pop Eugenia, a very demanding and dedicated ceramics teacher, the choice became very simple for me. I already had experience in the construction of a negative, modeling and porcelain multiplication of a volume thanks to the practices coordinated by the teacher both in the Iris Factory and in the Sanex Factory.

Can you tell us about what it was like and how you felt when you participated for the first time in a ceramics exhibition?
Before and after 1989, for a few years, exhibiting in the premises of the Union of Fine Artists was a privilege, sometimes requiring many years of preparation. The first participation was with my former teacher, at the Union of Fine Artists Gallery in Deva, in a dialog between the drawing-project and the ceramic object. It was the first experience that led to the articulation of exhibition projects with my mentor.

What do you like to be called: ceramist, potter or visual artist and why?
I’m a ceramist, and even if ceramics is part of the applied arts, the area in which I explore is a sculptural-aesthetic one that has nothing to do with functionality.

What does ceramics mean to you?
For me, ceramics is a way of life. I transpose my moods, my emotions into a material which, under the creative energy of my hands, takes shape.

What do you think is the most important quality of ceramic art?
Ceramics is extremely diverse: the material, in its variety, from red clay to phosphatic porcelain with its translucence, from earthy colors to sky blue, in a dialogue of form and color. Ceramics is hard to define, as each ceramicist has areas of exploration of ceramic materials, using technologies and techniques in the construction of volume and approach to color.

What are your sources of inspiration?
There is no one source of inspiration, but an accumulation of experiences, questions and answers to existential problems on the one hand. On the other hand, it’s the observation of phenomena in nature that support my search for texture, texture, light, movement.

Which ceramic materials do you like to use most and why?
Each ceramic material has its own charm and beauty. He comes through assumption and intimate dialog and embodies the plastic metaphor.
In the diverse palette of ceramic materials, I have been using sandstone for a longer period of time, which very faithfully supports my themes of late.

Do you use more industrial techniques and technologies dedicated to ceramics or more manual working techniques? What do you think are their pros and cons?
In the first part of my work I used industrial techniques of transposition and multiplication of form which, over time, I gave up in favor of one-off pieces that involve a technique of construction of volume from slabs, which gives me absolute freedom and sensitivity in terms of expressiveness of form.

Can you give us an example of archaic pottery that you particularly appreciate and what draws you to it?
I appreciate very much the Cucuteni pottery, the Peruvian pottery which, through the synthetic simplicity of the representations, enclose expressiveness and symbols in the dermis of the material.

What do you think about the pottery of the Cucuteni-Tripole civilization?
Cucuteni pottery is the quintessence of a refined culture that stands the test of time with its elegance of form and chromatic refinement.

What do you think are three of the most important ceramic events in the world?
Mino International Ceramics Competition in Mino, Japan, Vallauris International Ceramics Competition in Vallauris, France and Aveiro International Ceramics Biennial in Aveiro, Portugal.

Which ceramics event or gallery do you dream of exhibiting at and why?
All galleries or exhibition spaces, both conventional and unconventional, are a challenge for me to find optimal solutions to showcase my work.

How would you describe your job in three words?
Exploration, excitement and joy.

What do you think are three of the most important qualities a visual artist should have?
Honesty of expression, perseverance and intuition.

What do you think about Romanian ceramics?
The Romanian school of pottery is one of the most significant in the world. Less present before 1989 in the major galleries of the world and, of course, less known, Romanian ceramics is in various forms, from utilitarian to sculptural object, and today also present in galleries and international competitions.

What do you think are the needs of the ceramic artist?
The most important thing for a potter is the kiln that comes in to complete the creative work.

What would you recommend to younger ceramists to help them find their way in their career?
First of all, ceramics requires a lot of experimentation in terms of knowledge of ceramic materials, their expressive potential, and secondly, the choice of appropriate techniques in plastic expression.

Which ceramic artist or artists have inspired you throughout your career or are a reference point?
As I mentioned at the beginning, my mentor was Pop Engenia, which fascinated me and still moves me today through the diversity of forms and ideas, through a playful transposition of concepts using symbols.

Interview by Letiția Câmpan.

Articolul Gavril Zmicală, the earth’s faurus – Interview apare prima dată în caolinArt.

Doina Stici has an unmistakable, robust, telluric and at the same time graceful style of her artistic or environmental works, with an impressive record of solo exhibitions and national and international participations in events dedicated to ceramics.
The artist comes from a family of intellectuals from Chisinau and was initially oriented towards a musical career. Excessive shyness in front of the public became a serious impediment to this option, so her father suggested that she take up fine arts, after she had shown a penchant for ceramics in her teenage years. Father’s intuition proved to be excellent.

About Doina it can be said that it is a native talent combined with a deep reflective capacity and prolific experience both in the industrial area and in her personal workshop. When he works on an amphora, his hands move with such confidence and ease on the chamois, as if they were those of a skillful weaver in Persia, rather than those of an artist working with ceramic material. The form and motifs of his vases carry ancient echoes and appear animated, like characters in an epic or lyrical discourse.

When did you first think or set out to become a ceramist?
Things have come together.
I didn’t go to art high school, I went to a theoretical high school, and in parallel with high school I went to music school. That school was very good, most of the students who graduated went on to study at the conservatory. But I had a problem, I was too emotional. In my last exam at music school I was playing a Bach fugue on the piano, and I made several mistakes due to nervousness. During the rehearsals everything was going well, but with the audience in front of me and the jury, I broke down. This was a test too. It was suggested to my parents to direct me to something else.
Also in parallel with high school and music school, in the evenings, I went to some pottery classes for teenagers. To convince me that I could do ceramics at university, that I could continue my studies in this direction, my father collected all the clay objects I had made, he put them in front of me and said: ‘you can do fine arts’.
I graduated from the Academy of Visual Arts in Cluj. After college, but also during it, starting with my second year, I made and sold several ceramic objects at the UAP galleries and private galleries in Cluj. When I was doing my master’s studies, I got a bigger order, more big pots for the garden. Shortly after graduating from college, I had my first personal exhibition of ceramics… and so on and so forth, I found myself modelling something almost every day to earn a living, from everything I made I selected the most successful objects and exhibited them… at a certain point I felt like I was on tour!, organizing personal exhibitions in the country or participating in group exhibitions and specialized fairs.
At exhibitions, at openings I was presented and catalogued by critics and curators as a ceramic artist, then I realized that this is what I became, a visual artist, a ceramist. Articles about my creation appeared in the press, I was invited to several programs dedicated to ceramics, I was selling ceramics from exhibitions and art fairs, then I realized that, yes! the ceramics I was making were appreciated.
Have I ever wanted to be a ceramist? It happened.

Can you tell us about what it was like and how you felt when you participated for the first time in a ceramics exhibition?
I organized my first personal ceramics exhibition in Cluj, in 2000. There used to be a private art gallery, “Alliance of Arts” – a spacious gallery with arcades and an inner courtyard – at the end of the gang near the “Carpathian” coffee shop. I was quite overwhelmed by the responsibility I had taken on, organizing a solo exhibition is not an easy thing. I had no time for myself, no time for sensations or whims, I could barely eat. I had to set up the exhibition, two big halls, I had to think and act, to act as constructively as possible.
I had training for these situations. At the Academy of Visual Arts I had four or five themes per semester, to be made in ceramic material and exhibited, a more advanced stage I passed with the diploma and master’s thesis, until the solo exhibition at the “Alliance of Arts” I had participated in several group exhibitions of ceramics and as I usually did, I concentrated to the maximum so that, willy-nilly I forgot about myself, because I had no time for myself.

What do you like to be called, ceramicist, potter or visual artist and why?
Ceramist. I like that word.
Confusingly, ceramists are also called ceramic workers in ceramics factories. And the workers who weave baskets from porcelain, they also make ceramics, they are also potters.
If they call me a potter, I don’t like it. There is another confusion, often popular pottery created by craftsmen is confused with artistic pottery. Craftsmen borrow designs from their predecessors. In other words: the first potter in the village was an artist, the other potters borrowed his designs and decorating techniques, enriching them.
By repeating decorative patterns and the shapes of the objects they created pottery traditional to a particular place, region.
In addition, the word “potter” brings to mind only functional, utilitarian objects. And a ceramic artist, as well as being an inventor and creator of the shapes of utilitarian objects, pots, mugs, plates and so on, can translate thoughts, feelings, ideas, sensations into ceramic material. A ceramic artist is like a poet who writes poetry, but the material through which he expresses himself is not the letter of the word but the ceramic material.
The ceramic artist translates his ideas into ceramic material, the visual artist, however, in addition to ceramic material, can translate them into any other material, paper, bronze, plastic, drawing, textiles and so on, has total freedom in the choice of materials in which to write his “verses”.

What does ceramics mean to you?
Ceramics for me is not a job. I don’t go to the workshop like I go to work. I go to the workshop because I always have something to do, to model, to color, to think. That something is part of me. Ceramics for me is a professional activity but also a way of being.

What do you think is the most important quality of ceramic art?
The ways of expression are multiple – I can express myself verbally or in writing, I can express myself singing, dancing. Ceramics is also a way of expression. Through modeling, through colors and shapes, through my creation, I express myself, I transmit information to people, to the public, this seems to me to be the most important quality of ceramics and art in general, nonverbal communication through tangible objects. A visual art form of expression. I develop my creation, I focus on creating works that take place in the environment that you see, the visible environment. This is how visual artists express themselves.

What are your sources of inspiration?
When and how. For example, I found a sketch of mine with stylized apple trees in an old notebook. Since then I visualize a work, like an installation with these trees, I visualize what they would look like in ceramics in different color variations. I keep thinking about how I could make this work technically correct, the dimensions, the material, how this work would look in a garden, in a room or exhibition hall. My sources of inspiration? Apples on the table. At other times I go to the library and feed my eyes, art magazines of ceramics, sculpture, design, I browse, I look a lot at computer images, the environment and the artistic vision of things, of life, of events, that’s what I’m looking for, that’s what I need. If they don’t end up in libraries, that’s fine then too, food for the eyes can be found everywhere, especially in nature.

Which ceramic materials do you like to use most and why?
I like Shamota a lot. It’s tough, grainy, sculptural, docile, easy to work with. Shamot is a material made from fired and ground clay. Refractory products are made from chamotte in factories for metal foundries or in the form of bricks for furnaces, stoves, chimneys in houses. I like porcelain too, although it’s quite fussy, moody, cracks, warps when you expect it and when you don’t. It gives me a lot of trouble, but I like it.
I use these two materials more often. Use them separately or combine them. For example, as a decoration for the pots I make, I weave a porcelain yarn weave on the surface of the shamot or vice versa, on the porcelain surface I impregnate the shamot weave.
It’s not fair if I say I work with shamota, in my case. Shamota is of many kinds, combinations, compositions, compositions, colors, burned at different temperatures. It would be fair to say that I work with shamote. It’s the same with porcelain, I don’t work with porcelain, I work with porcelain.
Of course I also work with clay, but less often.

Do you use more industrial techniques and technologies dedicated to ceramics or more manual working techniques? What do you think are their pros and cons?
Well, for example, I can make porcelain wires by hand, it’s simple, I roll the porcelain with my palm or with my fingers on a wooden or plaster board. I roll it slowly until I get the desired thickness for the porcelain thread, it takes about a minute. In the industrial version there is a press, extruder, with the help of this tool, by pressing, in a few seconds, I get a porcelain thread with a uniform surface and thickness. The pros and cons? The hand-wound yarn is far from perfect, the press-wound one is flawless, plus I got this one much faster.
In my workshop I use industrial techniques such as pressing and molding in plaster molds and hand techniques, of course, construction modeling and slab modeling, on a case by case basis, depending on the job or jobs I have to do.

How would you describe your job in three words?
The Furnace Burns Lyrics.

What do you think are three of the most important qualities a visual artist should have?
Talent, hard work, perseverance.

Interview by Letiția Câmpan.

Articolul Doina Stici and the poetry of ceramics – interview apare prima dată în caolinArt.

Finding a perfect formula to translate into contemporary popular narrative elements and archaic native motifs (but also from the West, the Near East, Mediterranean or Caucasian cultures), the Atelier with Stories is distinguished by a charming synthesis of ceramic, pictorial and graphic techniques. Their work is a delight for children and adults, not just for the decorative and playful aspects, but also for the way it vibrates secret chords of the soul.

When did you first think or set out to become a potter?
We both “veered” towards Ceramics, from Graphics and Painting, during college and we didn’t think we would stay in this field.

Which designation do you prefer, ceramicist, potter or visual artist and why?
We are visual artists and not out of pride, but we see working in this field as an artistic endeavor, plus we sometimes manifest ourselves in other mediums.

What does ceramics mean to you?
Ceramics is both passion and craft.

What do you think is the most important quality of ceramic art?
It is very generous in terms of possibilities of expression and it is easily visible, it punctuates the space both in form and color.

What are your sources of inspiration?
Our inspiration is the huge universal heritage, ancient or medieval cultures, but also contemporary art.

Which ceramic materials do you like to use most and why?
Most often we use clay, we like its “concreteness and sincerity”, but also its versatility, giving you the possibility to work with it from large sizes to miniature fineness.

Do you use more industrial or manual techniques and technologies in your work? What do you think are their pros and cons?
To a large extent, we work by hand, on principle, in order to intervene as much as possible on each object, to maintain a connection with the material. The advantages are precisely this therapeutic connection with the ceramic material and the joy of creating each piece. Disadvantages would be more time and workload.

What do you think about the pottery of the Cucuteni-Tripole civilization? Can you give us an example of archaic pottery that you particularly appreciate and what is it about it that appeals to you?
We really appreciate the Cucuteni Culture, apropos to your question, but we like all the ancient cultures, both the crude ones and the more refined ones like Greek pottery.

How would you describe your job in three words?
Craftsmanship, rigor, surprising.

What do you think are three of the most important qualities a visual artist should have?
Image culture, creativity and knowledge at the same time.

What do you think about Romanian ceramics?
A good opinion, from the fact that we’ve had competitive contemporary schools ever since they started, we’re talking about recent history, to the fact that more and more high profile events are happening.

What do you think are the needs of the ceramic artist?
The needs of a potter are the same as any artist, the need for an art market and emulation around it, with the addition of some technology for a potter.

What would you recommend to younger ceramists to help them find their way in their career?
Let them choose their direction well from the start, because being such a large palette they can spread out, this does not exclude experimentation.

How do two people work in this area? Who does what in your creative tandem?
Although we are together in the same workshop and maybe we have a common path, we are quite independent, even more so lately, but the rough, “dirty” part still belongs to me, and Ana-Maria is in charge of the “finer details” and the decoration.

Interview by Letiția Câmpan.

Articolul Story Workshop: Ana-Maria and Mihai Ariciu – Interview apare prima dată în caolinArt.

The paradox of this creator of ceramic wall clocks lies in his constant pursuit of time. Close friends see in Nicolae a resemblance to the character of the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, always on the run and running out of time.
Nicolae discovered his artistic inclination at the age of 4, when he used to decorate with abstract motifs the drawing of vases sketched by his mother for his amusement. Later, meeting some ceramists and teachers from the Art High School such as Eugenia Pop or Gavril Zmicală gave him a clear impetus in the direction of ceramics, his passion and creations being awarded with several trophies at the national fine arts olympiads. For almost two decades, although he has been working in various visual disciplines, his work has been centered around the ceramic wall clock, which has gone beyond its strictly functional valence to become, as the case may be, an artistic and design object. Its products have reached three continents and could go even further if Time were to be more lenient with the “clockmaker-ceramist”.

When did you first think or set out to become a ceramist?
In 8th grade, around the age of 14.

How did you feel when you first participated in a ceramics exhibition?
Delighted to be able to exhibit my work and curious about the viewers’ reactions.

What do you prefer to be called, ceramist, potter or visual artist and why?
Visual artist, besides ceramics I also do painting and graphics.

What does ceramics mean to you?
It’s an ancient human activity, but it’s still relevant today, with the same combination of utilitarian and aesthetic aspects.

What do you think is the most important quality of ceramic art?
The useful/functional symbiosis with aesthetics and the relative durability achieved by firing the ceramic product.

What are your sources of inspiration?
Nature, geometry, primitive, decorative and traditional art, the art of other artists, architecture.

Which ceramic materials do you like to use most and why?
The white ceramic table allows many different color schemes.

Do you use more industrial techniques and technologies dedicated to ceramics or do you work more manually? What do you think are their pros and cons?
Both. The industrial ones help to streamline some phases of work, while the manual ones contribute to the uniqueness and personalization of the work.

Can you give us an example of archaic pottery that you particularly appreciate and what draws you to it?
Inuit ceramics, together with Maori and Cucuteni ceramics, have many common elements that I appreciate: pronounced geometric and chromatic character, with strong contrasts, balanced relationship between the whole and details, decorative and figurative-symbolic.

What do you think about the pottery of the Cucuteni-Tripole civilization?
An archaic ceramic art of high quality, with strong symbolism and effective stylization, akin to similar manifestations of the same period in other geographical areas.

What do you think are three of the most important ceramic events in the world?
Mino International Ceramics Festival in Mino, Japan, Aberystwyth International Ceramics Festival in Aberystwyth, UK and Gyeonggi-do International Ceramics Biennale in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.

Which ceramics event or gallery do you dream of exhibiting at and why?
At the International Ceramics Festival in Mino, Japan, it’s the most prestigious in the world, with exhibitions to a large public.

What do you think are three of the most important qualities a visual artist should have?
Patience, hard work and curiosity.

What do you think about Romanian ceramics?
It is evolving positively and with a lot of diversity, it needs more promotion and public awareness.

What do you think are the needs of the ceramic artist?
Comfortable everyday living and getting out into nature to be able to carry out the creative process efficiently.

What would you recommend to younger ceramists to help them better orient their career?
To study the work of as many other artists as possible and to produce the objects that are most pleasing to them and to the public, and to seek their feedback.

Which ceramic artist or artists have inspired you throughout your career or are a reference?
Eugenia Pop, Cornel and Arina Ailincăi, Gavril Zmicală.

Interview by Letiția Câmpan.

Articolul Nicolae Câmpan (Ceasuri de Perete), the hunter of time and shapes – Interview apare prima dată în caolinArt.

For the ceramics-loving public, Diana and Cătă from LUT Studio are among the brightest and most eagerly awaited presences at fairs and festivals. Although they launched and established themselves in the field a long time ago, they are still perceived as the “junior wing” of Cluj pottery, “utilitarian pottery”, Diana spontaneously and modestly emphasizes, lest it be lumped together with the artistic section.
In fact, when it comes to utilitarian ceramics, especially if you adopt a minimalist aesthetic, it is hard as a ceramist to be original and not fall into “ikeisms”. LUT Studio achieves this rare feat with its objects – vases, mugs, plates, lamps and so on – with an essential yet distinctive design, objects with a unique personality, as if taken from Morandi’s paintings. It is also rare for a couple to be able to materially and coherently translate a creative dialog. Diana (or Magdi to those close to her) talked to us about how to combine industrial solutions with manual techniques, about working as a couple and the qualities that are essential for an aspiring ceramist.

When did you first think or set out to become a potter?
My first contact with ceramics was in 9th grade when I met Mr. Zmicală. Although I didn’t know it yet, but I think that was the defining moment. It was a conscious decision I made when I decided to go to the Ceramics department at the University. Cătă kept visiting us at the department and played in the “mud” for a while, and when we finished college we decided to open a ceramics workshop.

Can you tell us about what it was like and how you felt when you first participated in a ceramics exhibition?
I don’t remember the first exhibition but I can say with certainty that it was rushed, panicked and nervous. Ceramics involves a long and arduous journey and I can’t remember an event where we weren’t running down the corridors with our hot, fresh out of the kiln work.

Which designation do you prefer, ceramicist, potter or visual artist and why?
Definitely CERAMIST. Usually people introduce us as artists or designers but no, we are ceramists ????. I find it encompasses it all but also brings the modesty of working with clay.

What does ceramics mean to you?
More than ‘bread on the table’ it is meditation and play, construction and study, physics and chemistry.

What do you think is the most important quality of ceramic art?
It takes time but it’s forever.

What are your sources of inspiration?
First of all nature through its mixture of chaos and precise mathematical patterns. And tradition, not so much the traditional motifs, but rather the minimalism of “country life”.

Which ceramic materials do you like to use most and why?
Materials should be respected for what they are, with their pluses and minuses. We don’t like materials that pretend to be something else (a tile that you swear is wood). In our projects, we most often work in porcelain because it’s lightweight, durable and translucent, but we don’t compromise on other materials either. Clay is pre-miscible and leaves you room for error, earthenware is creamy and tiles are hard and durable. We are always trying to find a place for them in projects.

Do you use more industrial techniques and technologies dedicated to ceramics or more manual working techniques? What do you think are their pros and cons?
I think harmony is generally in balance. Usually the material dictates the technique and the project chooses the material. We pour in negatives, we shoot on the wheel, we build with slabs and sausages and we recently bought a CNC to keep up with the times. Porcelain casting doesn’t leave much room for modeling, but the objects are fine, light and about the same. Instead, modeling results in more robust, handmade and unique objects.

Can you give us an example of archaic pottery that you particularly appreciate and what is it about it that appeals to you?
I am fascinated by Dogū, the “artistic side” of the Jomon culture (14,000-400 BC).
Dogū are small clay figurines. Most appear to be modeled as female with large eyes, small waists and wide hips, considered to be representations of the mother goddess. It was believed that diseases could be transferred into dogū, which then destroyed, eliminating disease and unhappiness. Full figures are rare, most are missing an arm, leg or other body part.

What do you think are three of the most important ceramic events in the world?
I don’t know if they’re the most important, but they’re definitely at the top of our list:
– NCECA – National Council for Education in the Ceramic Arts
– MINO International Ceramics Festival, Japan
– Gyeonggy Ceramic Biennale, South Korea.

How would you describe your job in three words?
Eager, surprising and satisfying.

What do you think are three of the most important qualities a visual artist should have?
Patience, acceptance and relinquishing control.

Which ceramic artist or artists have inspired you throughout your career or are a reference point?
As a business model, Gaya Ceramics has always been a benchmark for us. The list of artists keeps changing, but right now I can say that I’m following Shay Church intensely.

How does it work in a creative tandem like yours, how do you divide your tasks?
We usually discuss the forms together, then Catalin does the negatives. He is also in charge of the more technical parts (the electrical wiring of the lighting fixtures and the fastening systems for the wall objects). The jobs we don’t like very much, we split them up: Cătă polishes and I glaze. I also take care of organization, paperwork, bureaucracy and public relations. Otherwise, we both do whatever needs to be done.

What aspect of ceramics do you try to transmit/communicate to the “apprentices” who come to work in your studio?
I insist on reminding them that it is more important to enjoy the ‘journey rather than the destination’ and that the ‘destination’ (the burning) must be taken and viewed with responsibility. An object that you rushed will remind you that you “could have given more thought” for another 5000 years.

Interview by Letiția Câmpan.

Articolul Diana (Magdi) Muraru & Cătălin (Cătă’) Puicar, the tandem from LUT – Interview apare prima dată în caolinArt.