Forging bonds in rural Asturias
- Natalia makes ceramic objects that communicate empowering symbolism
- Her geometric vase collections are a fusion of digital techniques and handcrafting
- She showcased her work at Révélations Paris in 2025
Ceramics offer Natalia Suarez a powerful form of expression that merges disciplines and harnesses her prior experience in art direction. Born in Asturias, northern Spain, Natalia earned a bachelor of fine arts with a specialisation in design from the University of Barcelona in 2000. Her career began in the advertising sector, where she worked in product design and branding until 2016. She returned to Asturias the following year with an additional degree in artistic ceramics from the Lotja School of Arts and Crafts in Barcelona. Working in collaboration with other artists, artisans and creative organisations, Natalia is gradually steering her practice towards a mixed media exploration involving wood, yarn and wicker. "My return to Asturias has been an opportunity to reconcile with my rural roots, embrace family life and enjoy the freedom to make," she says.
INTERVIEW
Asturias, like most of northern Spain, has deep ties to the land through agriculture and mining. In my youth, I found its roughness stifling and left in search of broader perspectives. Returning now, I have learned to value its resources and have discovered new materials and a creative community to work with.
I came to ceramics with a process-driven approach from my background in art direction, which still shapes my work today. My creation The Golden Nipple, a totem honouring motherhood, unexpectedly became the centrepiece of a collaboration with Teta y Teta, a non-profit campaign aimed at desexualising breasts, and is my most known work. It is a piece I continue to produce today.
I have found collaborations and partnerships to be essential support for exploring materials and techniques. They provide me diverse knowledge and perspectives. My co-creators include ceramicists, illustrators and basketweavers. I also explore wood through exchanges with my father and brother who work in carpentry.
Mastery is not given, it is cultivated. That idea is at the heart of Destreza, the residency programme I am working on, following the expansion of my studio in the Asturian countryside. My drive to exchange knowledge is a calling. I feel compelled to share this with the world. I believe Destreza will become a generator of connections.
Natalia Suarez
Ceramicist
Asturias, Spain
AVAILABILITY
By appointment only
LANGUAGES
Spanish, English
