Hello!
It’s Elena. Holding hot chips in a park, wearing leggings with a hole in the knee and sandals when the weather is definitely too cold for them — typical. Nice to meet you — here’s the face behind the name. Everything on the website (including the website itself) is made with my own two hands.
I first learnt how to make ceramics in a Diploma of Visual Arts at TAFE, then dropped out to focus on my own ceramic projects that you see on this website. I am lucky to have studio space in my (rental) home, and a back shed for a kiln. I am also lucky in Brisbane’s livable weather, as half my studio space is a home-made outdoor table around the side of the house.
I’d like to expand and be able to offer more fantastic tableware I have in my head, but currently I am limited by space, time, and kiln size.
To see more about my process, keep reading or find me on Instagram.
In my ‘professional’ life, I am a public health researcher, so you can also find me on Google Scholar and ResearchGate!
Inside the studio
I am interested in in how we understand and make meaning of our experiences, and how this intersects with the connection between art and everyday objects and transform those experiences by how we explain them. I’m focused on making functional objects specifically for the way they can bring art into our normal lives. Therefore, I am exploring natural landscapes and objects with creative use of printmaking technique in ceramics, such as lithography or chine collé like effects (the coloured shapes in the background of the prints).
In the studio, I use a combination of ceramic techniques to achieve the unique visions on my head. Most of my pieces are slip cast from plaster moulds I have made myself from handbuilt clay shapes. That is, I sculpt the cup or bowl or whatever shape I want out of clay, make a plaster mould from it, and use the plaster mould to create multiple copies using slip, or liquid clay. I make my own casting slip from blocks of clay, and make my own coloured clay using ceramic stains.
FAQ
All cups, plates, bowls, and mugs I make are food safe, dishwasher safe, and microwave safe.
Making ceramics is a slow process, with a lot of waiting time for the clay to dry. If it dries too fast, it cracks. Each piece goes through the kiln twice, and each firing takes about 18 hours from starting to unloading. Currently there’s about a 4-6 week turnaround for me to create new pieces – add another month if it requires a new plaster mould and the plaster drying time.