MEET THE ARTIST

PAULINE DELLA PERA

"I shape my pieces entirely by hand, without a lathe, and so they are often a little quirky, and always unique despite being produced in series. I believe that one can easily see the marriage of personalities of gesture and material in my different creations."

PAULINE DELLA PERA

PAULINE DELLA PERA

Ceramicist, PONTOISE (95)

Pauline reveals to us her skillful way of making her three passions coexist: poetry, materials, and the heart.

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

Although I've been practicing ceramics since childhood, my studies in Modern Literature and Cultural Mediation were quite far removed from the world of crafts. After several years of solely promoting the work of other artists, I was able to begin exploring my own artistic universe while working in a Montreal art hub* during my studies. Back in France, I resumed my ceramic practice in collective workshops before setting up my own studio at home and launching my business.

*Art hives are places for free and open creation, where participants can come for free to paint, sew and share their know-how with others.

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

My style blends minimalism and wabi-sabi. I shape my pieces entirely by hand, without a potter's wheel, so they are often a little quirky, and always unique despite being produced in series. I believe the interplay of personal touch and materiality is easily evident in my various creations.

In short, I would say I have three main areas of focus. The first is poetry. My love of literature and my background in cultural mediation gave me the idea of ​​imprinting poetry onto my functional ceramics (cups and vases) to bring literature into people's homes. The second is the material itself. I like to leave it raw on many pieces to highlight its natural beauty and sensuality. Finally, the third area of ​​my work is the heart. I am currently creating a series of 100 unique anatomical hearts, whose variety of shapes and colors is an ode to diversity. For each heart adopted, I donate a portion of the proceeds to the AIDES association, which fights against HIV and hepatitis.

How do you work?

I work with slabs, coils, and modeling. I also have a few molds into which I stamp the clay rather than pouring it. This allows me to create unique veining on the exterior of my pieces, giving them a natural, aged look. I sometimes like to enhance these patterns with colored glaze that contrasts with the natural color of the clay, as in my LEATHER series.

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

For the ceramic poems, I use leatherworking punches that I slightly repurpose. This gives the texts a "typewriter" effect, which I stamp letter by letter.

SOME PIECES BY THE ARTIST

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