Alison Lousada

Ceramicist

©Richard Ivey

Breaking the rules

Alison makes heavily textured vessels
She started as a textile designer
Her work mixes stoneware and porcelain

Ceramics started as a hobby for Alison Lousada who would buy littles pieces she found in various shops and fairs, and take short courses. She went on to study fashion textiles and work as a textile designer, but her love for ceramics never left. She switched crafts after an internship with Nicola Tassie, which gave her the confidence to open her own studio in 2018. Since then, Alison has specialised in making heavily textured vessels out of stoneware clay and porcelain, giving her creations a cracked and blistered appearance. While her style is distinguishable as her own, each piece is completely unique due to the unpredictable nature of Alison’s creative process, an element she thoroughly enjoys as she discovers her pieces upon opening the kiln.

Interview

©Richard Ivey

©Richard Ivey

When did you first discover ceramics?: My grandfather had an Art Deco tea set that I was obsessed with as a child. I used to collect ceramics from junk shops, charity shops, craft fairs. I still have some of the ones from when I was a teenager.
How did you become a ceramicist?: I did short courses and morning courses while working as a textile designer, I used it as a kind of ‘anti-fashion therapy’. I finally made the switch after interning at Nicola Tassie, she gave me the confidence and knowledge to run my own studio.
Do you have a favourite technique?: I like hand building and rule breaking, especially the technique of refiring and adding more layers of glaze and porcelain – it’s a favourite as it’s the uncertain outcome of the kiln. It’s like opening a present when you open the kiln.
What are your sources of inspiration?: I look at all manner of historical ceramics: Japanese pottery, African functional storage vessels, but also volcanic landscapes – particularly the ones in Iceland – and abstract textural painters such as London-born Cecily Brown.

Alison Lousada is a rising star: she began her career in 2016