Sara Bergami

Ceramicist

©Luca Bertacchi

©Bianca Bertacchi

©Anita Bertacchi

©Sara Bergami

Ode to natural irregularity

Sara creates objects that have organic and material forms
The imperfections found in nature are her source of inspiration
She conceals a written message in each of her objects

Sara Bergami is an Italian architect-turned-ceramicist who decided to make a radical change in her life in 2015. Together with her family, she left Bologna, the city where she was born and grew up, to move to Paris. "My new life in France turned out to be full of surprises," she says. Sara discovered a new passion, ceramics, which quickly became her second profession. She pictures herself as an early 20th century bohemian, with her Parisian flat as her creative space. Within these walls she creates her architectural designs and shapes her ceramic works. "My activity as a ceramicist is a sideline and complementary aspect of my being an architect," explains Sara, who envisions her pieces in spaces she designs during the making process. A feature of her aesthetic is to celebrate imperfection of form, a style she achieves by modelling well-formed vessels into irregular pieces.

Interview

©Anne Charlotte Dagnaud

©Sara Bergami

How did you get started as a ceramicist?: Walking around Paris one day, my gaze was caught by a shop window in which a ceramicist was working with clay. It was love at first sight. I immediately enrolled in a course to learn this art. By training I am an interior architect. What attracted me to ceramics was the idea of being able to create objects according to my aesthetic taste and integrate them harmoniously with the spaces I create.
What particular techniques do you use?: My favourite technique is the coiling technique. I make my creations by overlapping: I create strips of clay and overlap them concentrically. The columbine is a very versatile technique that allows me to construct large objects. Initially, all the shapes I create with clay are perfect and I deliberately deform them at the end of the creative process.
What are your sources of inspiration?: We could say that my creations, with their natural shapes and colours, are a celebration of the simplicity and beauty of nature. The roundness of the objects I create are inspired by the female body and the mother's womb. In my sculptures, as in nature, imperfection and irregularity are omnipresent. We should also accept imperfections and give up the search of an artificial perfection that is only illusory.
Could you tell us something that characterises your production?: A message is engraved on the surface of all my sculptures. You have to look for it carefully because it is deliberately written in small letters so that it remains discreet. The content of the message is linked to the vase that houses it and often celebrates the imperfections and irregularities that make it special and unique. As my life is divided between Italy and France, so each message is written in the languages of my two countries, both so beautiful and poetic.

Sara Bergami is a rising star she began her career in 2022