Nicolò Morales

Ceramicist

©Laila Pozzo

The colour-blind artist who feels colours

Nicolò works 14 to 18 hours every day
He collaborates with architect and designer Ugo La Pietra
He is inspired by the sea and diving

Nicolò Morales has been an artist (though he prefers to call himself an 'experience-stager of the visual arts') since he was five years old. But of course he didn’t know it then. When he was a child, playing with stucco was the only way for his parents to keep him quiet and calm for hours. His love for plaster and clay didn’t stop over the years and, after attending art school, he became one of the most popular ceramicists in Italy, despite being colour-blind. Today, his works are present in public and private collections all around the world.

Interview

©Laila Pozzo

How did you start out in ceramics?: When I was five, my parents replaced the window frames in their bedroom. I was an active child, but when I pulled away the stucco and played with it, I became calm. At the age of ten I joined a workshop. That was normal back then, but today it would probably be considered child exploitation!
Did you learn from a master?: To my great regret, no, but I would have wished to. Being self-taught is cool, but if you have a teacher, what you otherwise get in three years you can get in one week!
How does being colour-blind affect you?: Two years ago, I declared to the world that I was colour-blind. I do not recognise colours in a normal way: I make up my own codes, which only I understand. Over the years my colour-blindness has become an added value and today I am known for this peculiarity of mine.
What does this bring to your work?: Before declaring that I was colour-blind, I was (and still I am) an external consultant for craft magazines. Today they say 'Nicolò Morales does not see colours, but he feels them'. And it’s true: even if I don’t see them, I’m able to put them together in a nice way.

Nicolò Morales is a master artisan: he began his career in 1983 and he started teaching in 1993