London

Sandra Shashou

Mixed media sculptor | London, United Kingdom

Beauty from broken fragments

Sandra creates sculpture from porcelain she collects, breaks and reassembles
She sources vintage British, French, Hungarian and Russian porcelain globally
Her sculptures are first composed flat on paper before assembly

Sandra Shashou collects beautiful vintage fine bone tea and coffee cups, pots and small plates, and turns them into her sculpting medium. Carefully breaking each precious object with a fine hammer, she transforms beautiful porcelain into abstract fragments, which she then interlaces to form a new whole. Sandra pursued this passion for fine arts in her forties, leaving behind a career she built at her father's business. “I was more afraid of not doing it than doing it” she recalls. Studying at the Slade School of Fine Art and City & Guilds in London, Sandra initially focused on painting, but in 2013, she created her first sculpture, and her porcelain practice was born. "By breaking and reassembling, I create a dialogue between destruction and creation, fragility and strength, giving the broken porcelain a renewed life," she explains.

Interview

What led you to making sculptures?: Through sewing and extensive layering, my paintings were becoming increasingly 3D. I bought myself lace-like, turquoise bone porcelain tea cups from Portobello Road Market and thought, 'Should I put painting aside and make porcelain my sole sculpting medium?'
Why did you choose to work with fragmented porcelain?: Some of my sculptures are vertical stacks of precariously balanced crockery. They look fragile, yet they have a robust internal core. I have felt broken and had to rebuild my life myself. Broken ceramics allow us to reflect on putting pieces back together to create something stronger.
How do you source your materials?: Collecting is where all of my work begins. I never switch off the continuous search for porcelain. My mother left me her own collection when she died. Pieces of her tea and coffee cups have been sent out into the world as part of my sculptures.
What is your favourite tool?: It takes a lot of courage to break antique porcelain. For years, I have been working with a long, slim hammer that allows me to break pieces with precision. I am able to tap into the flat underside of a dessert plate and make its centre fall out in one piece.

Sandra Shashou is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2000 and she started teaching in 2025