Andri Ioannou & Piero Mazzotti
Speaking the language of texture
- Andri and Piero opened their workshop, FOS Ceramiche, in 1987
- They design and create porcelain objects mixing traditional techniques and modern aesthetics
- Their artworks evoke shapes and textures from nature
Andri Ioannou was born in Limassol, Cyprus and graduated in mathematics from the University of Athens. In 1983, she came to Italy and fell in love with the cultural and artistic traditions of Faenza, a city famous for its ceramics. She attended several courses at the Art Institute of Ceramics G. Ballardini, where she met Piero Mazzotti. Piero was already collaborating with different art studios around the world, in Italy, the USA, Scotland and Greece. Andri decided that porcelain would be her life, too. In 1986 they wrote a book together called The Art of Ceramics and in 1987 they founded FOS Ceramiche. In this art and design workshop they manufacture handmade porcelain objects using age-old techniques applied to a creative and innovative language. FOS in Italian is the acronym for Forma Oggetto Superficie which means Shape Object Surface.
Interview
- Why do you love porcelain?
- Piero: Porcelain is a material with unique technical and aesthetic characteristics. It is also a difficult material. When you work with it you must face many obstacles and unforeseen events that require continuous adjustments and hundreds of trials. The perfection of an object is never taken for granted. Each time it is an achievement and always an exciting experience.
- What techniques do you use?
- Piero: We have studied, used and tailored a great heritage of techniques, specialising in slip casting which starts with a meticulous work on the models. Only then can you appreciate the precision in the details of unglazed porcelain. Sometimes we decorate our objects with unique colours thanks to metal oxides or gold and platinum, applied by hand and fixed with an additional firing.
- What are your sources of inspiration?
- Andri: Our shapes and textures take inspiration from nature, the ocean floor, rocks eroded by time, or the most secret textures only visible under a microscope. Our research is a never-ending journey.
- How would you define your work?
- Andri: A mix of art, craftsmanship and design. An ongoing, stimulating exercise to express creativity and to represent beauty. A continuous creative drive which, combined with the infinite possibilities offered by ceramics, leads to great freedom of expression.
Andri Ioannou & Piero Mazzotti are master artisans: they began their career in 1983 and they started teaching in 1990
Where
Andri Ioannou & Piero Mazzotti
