Interview to the artist by Rachelle Gryn Brettler, from our Anniversary Book
My work is process based. The process of making the work also informs what I want to make. Every time I start a project, it has been a curiosity I have felt with a material, I want to explore the material.
Everyday objects are very important in my work and an object can be the start of a project. The Broken Things project began with the notion of how we relate to things that break, whether we restore or throw away. And following that thread I arrived at ceramics – something that can last centuries and is also very fragile. It is a series - one characteristic of my work is that I create the same but slightly different - looking for the difference within repetition. I always tried to read the object - so I would not do to a soft toy what I do to a ceramic cup for example, and I take into consideration the story, the history of the object.
Growing up in Chile, in my mother’s house I was surrounded by material culture – objects, ceramics… I was not particularly creative, and actually my mother was shocked when I said I wanted to study art. I studied a fine art BA in sculpture in Chile, followed by an MA in visual arts. I came to London for a PhD in art for which I wrote about material culture, how mass-produced objects enter into the realm of the art world and between commodity and the art object.
I try to link the historical and traditional with contemporary life – like the blue and white china tradition. Objects that are unique and precious that sit in a museum and then copies are made that are extremely cheap, there is a scale of value. What moves me more than the object itself is the relationship that one develops with the object – that bridge. I have always been fascinated with the handmade and what came with the mechanical reproduction. For instance, the Blue Willow China pattern was one of the first that was made mechanically in the 1780s - it crossed the threshold of when ceramics stopped being decorated only through hand-painting. I love the details that one finds with research. For research I go to flea markets, charity shops, museums and libraries. I am in favour of research, of learning new skills, reading, informing yourself yet I respect so much the practice of art - it is through the making, at least in my experience, that the works come alive. The things I make, they talk back to me, it is that process of concentration, being in the studio, and that happens only through work.
My material is mainly porcelain. I use different processes – for example I throw on the wheel, hand build or cast in a mould. The mixture of different techniques is something very characteristic of what I do. I am always interested in pushing to the limit - twisting and merging different processes – mechanical with handmade. The pieces go to the kiln three times: for the bisque, for the glaze and for the decoration. The majority of the motifs are ready made. That is also something that I have always been interested in - how to make something unique with something that is mass produced.
Initially I worked in porcelain with three dimensional objects. And then I thought it would be nice to do something similar, but in two dimensions, so I furthered the theme of Broken Things. It felt so good to have my first portfolio of works on paper, with golden thread - sewn with tiny needles, which are a nightmare to thread. I get lost in the making. I spend hours stitching. I prefer to do just one thing. I love the process because that is pure meditation. This is the space when the world makes sense to me. Something happens when you invest so many hours and you can perceive it in the object. Just being there, just practising. It is not something that you can learn, that someone can tell you, or you read in a book, it is those hours that you are there. Something happens there.
It starts with an idea. The process leads me somewhere else because I know where I want to arrive but I do not know how. My process never ever feels like it is done, complete. I feel that the practice is always going somewhere. I have always tried to push myself to do exhibitions and start new projects, because that stops my obsession, it is a kind of deadline, and I need to finish something.