Ceramic blues among other hues
- Balbina is inspired by Mallorca's ocean, sandy beaches and ancient quarries
- She had an early contact with carpentry and ceramics through her parents
- Her studio doubles as an experimental laboratory
Through her ceramic vases and tableware, Balbina Fullana practises patience and connects to the tactile world. "I recall my restless hands assembling different structures with scrap wood and sawdust in my father’s carpentry workshop," she says. With that same curious exploration, Balbina developed her own crafting skills in the years that followed. She earned a fine arts degree in 2005, and a master's degree in audiovisual design in 2007 from the University of Barcelona. Balbina returned to her native Mallorca and opened an online Nordic furniture business, then found herself yearning for the experience of handcrafting. In 2017, she inherited her mother’s ceramic kiln and tools. Soon enough, what began as an experimental hobby became a practice of functional and decorative ceramics in her atelier, Bal Ceramics and Lab.
Interview
- What have ceramics taught you?
- It is a medium for personal growth. The tactile contact with clay taught me patience and peace, and helped me reconnect with the analogue world. Crafting bowls helps me focus through active meditation. I leave a part of myself in every piece, and any imperfection is a reminder that it is unique and not mass-produced.
- What role does Mallorca play in your work?
- I am inspired by the colours and hues of the island’s scenery: the ocean’s various blues, the raw tones of its sandy beaches and its ancient quarries. It blends with my functional, minimalist designs. I am also interested in biomaterials and have started including natural fibres and wool felt in my artistic vase explorations. These pieces also reflect my Mediterranean origins.
- Which pieces define your signature style?
- My blue-veined stoneware and soap dish design, for their minimalist characteristics. Their simple, smooth lines and contours connect with green, slow living. It is something I have always been drawn to from Nordic design, but my pieces reinterpret this concept within the local landscape.
- Who does your work connect with?
- My clients are tourists who visit the island from northern Europe, in addition to locals from Mallorca and shops that carry my pieces. My work has also reached Italy through the Cervantes Institute, which invited me to exhibit my pieces in Edit Napoli in 2023. Clients from the USA have also sought my work for their events on the island. I love that my work is valued beyond Mallorca.
Balbina Fullana is a rising star: she began her career in 2018
Where
Balbina Fullana
