Patrizia Italiano

Ceramicist

©Paola Schillaci

Traditions with a twist

Sicily is an endless source of inspiration for Patrizia
Pottery has always been her passion
She has exhibited her pieces around the world

Filomena, Carmelina, Totuccio and Salvo are some of the pieces created form the fantasies of Patrizia Italiano, a Sicilian ceramicist based between Palermo and Filicudi, one of the six islands in the Aeolian archipelago. She likes to give a proper name to all her artworks, so as to give them a real life and personality. "I have always been passionate about ceramics" she explains. "Craftsmanship and creativity have always stayed with me in every moment of my life." Her pieces embody elements of the Sicilian people (especially the heads of market vendors), nature and underwater life – such as mermaids, crabs, shells and dolphins – always reinterpreted in a creative way. Starting ceramics at a very young age, Patrizia has had solo exhibitions in Milan, New York, Tokyo, the United Arab Emirates and many other countries all around the world.

Interview

©Paola Schillaci

©Paola Schillaci

What do you love most about your work?: The miracle of the creation of the objects: clay becomes alive thanks to the water and fire. It’s like a birth. From the raw and rough earth, something comes to life. This process moves me and impresses me more and more.
What does well made mean to you?: Well made means “studied, designed and elaborated”. Nothing is left to chance in what is literally “well made”. In the making process everything is perfectly set and each step of the design and of the manufacturing process is respected.
What might be a problem of your business?: Bureaucracy and politics do not really understand the needs of the artisans and the artists. Those professions should be protected by the authorities, and should not be hindered by bureaucracy. Our job creates culture and we are the living memory of a territory and its traditions.
How did you combine tradition and innovation in your craft?: I really wanted a new and fresh approach to the ceramic world. My aim was to tie the Sicilian activities to a more modern idea of the famous “testa di moro” (Moor’s Head). So I decided to create the “market’s vendors heads”, each with its own product.

Patrizia Italiano is a master artisan: she began her career in 1977 and she started teaching in 1987