• Levent sees clay as a material able to convey its own story
• He turned to clay work after an initial career in office work
• He uses natural oxides to create layered surfaces

After nearly two decades in the private sector, Levent Marali chose to dedicate himself to ceramics. His interest in clay began with a curiosity for hand-building techniques, but the material soon became a way to explore memory and the passage of time. Drawn to both the physical and emotional potential of it, he became interested in the vessel as a symbolic form capable of holding stories. Levent works primarily with the coil-building technique, building a piece up layer by layer. He also places great importance on surface treatment. "I use natural oxides to create variations in colour and texture. They make the surface look stratified, which evokes the passage of time," explains Levent.