Echoing nature's oddities in ceramic
- Sandra opened her workshop in 2016
- Her pieces are mostly wheel-thrown in stoneware and porcelain clays
- She likes to explore a utopic, escapist and playful imaginary world through quirky, bold shapes and colours
After earning a formal education in design and fine art, Sandra Berghianu embarked on a self-organised apprenticeship with a potter, honing her skills under the guidance of two Japanese masters. Her passion for ceramics ignited during an Erasmus exchange in Rotterdam, where she first explored the medium. Despite studying Graphic Design, she dedicated all her free time to ceramics, creating her first hand-built sculptures inspired by seaweed and deformed vegetables. As she progressed with mastering the craft, Sandra spent years perfecting her technique by making basic cups. Today she excels in Japanese techniques, specialising in wheel-throwing and assembling thrown parts into asymmetrical pieces, before decorating with slip. Today, she creates small-batch tableware and unique sculptural vases in a playful aesthetic.
Interview
- When and how did you actually start?
- I started during an Erasmus exchange in Rotterdam when the ceramics technicians were happy to let me make whatever I wanted. After my graduation, I arranged to stay with a potter near Fukuoka, Japan, so I could learn how to throw on the potter's wheel.
- What inspires your work?
- I am inspired by oddities in nature, such as fungi, microbes or deformed fruit, and blend these with abstract line drawings that reflect my feelings and inner wondering. I love the act of making and the surprises the process can bring. I always leave space for spontaneity and on-the-spot decision-making, which sometimes leads to the most interesting pieces.
- How do you express tradition and innovation in your work?
- The techniques I use are rooted in traditional Japanese pottery. It is important to me that my objects are technically well-made, but the shapes I create are unusual and bold. The bright colours have also been the result of innovation and a self-developed process.
- Is there something about your work that people do not realise?
- The insides of my sculptural vases are glazed, to offer people the possibility of using them to put water and flowers. I love the border between functional and sculpture, and the ownership one can feel over an object by using that object.
Sandra Berghianu is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2015
Where
Sandra Berghianu
