Name: PAIR OF STONEWARE POTS “LES ANSES MOCHES”
Brand: Carole Touati for Re|consider
SKU: pots
Price: 240.00 EUR
Availability: InStock

MEET THE ARTIST

CAROLE TOUATI

Ceramicist, Chissey-en-Morvan (71)

Carole tells us about her turning point, or how practicing ceramics allowed her to connect with her deepest temperament.

See his Artist page All ceramics

Tell us your story, how did your vocation come to you?

I've worked in fashion for over fifteen years as a consultant and art director. Swept up by digitalization, social media, hyper-connectivity, and the ever-increasing pace of life, I felt the need to do something with my hands to unwind and, challengingly, disconnect from the screen. I dabbled in drawing, painting, sewing, and clothing design, finding a certain satisfaction in each. However, it was the day I took my first pottery class with a Japanese ceramicist in Barcelona—where I've lived for 25 years—that I experienced a true epiphany. It was as if I reconnected with my younger self, with my deepest nature. The calm, the slowness itself, the focus, the freedom to create a piece from start to finish, without intermediaries, captivated me. I've now been working with ceramics for over six years. Last year, I set up my workshop in the countryside, in Chissey-en-Morvan, in Burgundy, where we reside half the year.

How would you describe your style, your artistic approach, in a few words?

Vases, bowls, plates, sculptures, my pieces are all unique. I use stoneware and porcelain. Wheel throwing, coiling, modeling, these techniques allow me to work with both classic and more unexpected forms, which I connect to my quirky world by applying brightly colored glazes, adding handles made from recycled t-shirt yarn, or "ugly" handles, for example.

What themes or subjects inspire you most in your work?

I seek a kind of harmony in contrast and the unexpected. I try to approach beauty from the perspective of a possible "ugliness." I thus adopt a concept of beauty that is free and flexible, while trying to overcome my own preconceptions.

How do you work?

Half of my life takes place in Spain, in Barcelona, where I share a studio with my ceramicist friends, and the other part of the year is spent away from it all, in the Morvan, where I set up my own studio a few months ago.
I work with stoneware and porcelain using various techniques I learned in Barcelona, creating my pieces according to my inspiration. Decorative objects and sculpture fascinate me, but I also enjoy creating functional pieces, always striving to imbue them with a sense of poetry and emotion. I'm not afraid of color; I love taking risks by combining them. Clays, techniques, shapes, colors, textures, and finishes are ultimately all words that allow us to create our own unique language.

Do you have a particular technique, a specific expertise? Without revealing all your secrets, have you developed your own methods and techniques?

I like to create pieces on the lathe and, without turning them, finish them by hand. In this way, they acquire the strength of the lathe and the regular shapes it gives, combined with the poetry of a piece shaped by hands, without tools.
My miniatures, sometimes barely a centimeter high, are made in this way.

Tell us about your daily life, your constraints, your joys, your successes…

Since I hardly ever work on commission, it is sometimes difficult, but stimulating, to find the creative impulse each day. That's why I enjoy working regularly on large pieces using the coil method, so that I can dedicate myself to a single piece for several days in a row.

Do you have a message you'd like to share, or anything else you'd like to say?

I sincerely thank Alexia for her support! It's a privilege to be able to participate in the Mirette adventure, which I hope will be long and successful.

(The photo is by Sandrine Rossit, who takes magnificent portraits of artists.)

See his Artist page All ceramics