ROOTS Connections – Arts Center, Caldas da Rainha

Between 2008 and 2014, Ricardo Lopes did artistic residencies in three countries that are universal references in ceramic arts: Japan, China and India. During these trips, he discovered fascinating aspects of the pastes, forming techniques, firing and rituals associated with each culture.

Says the author:

“Practically all cultures have experimented with and developed techniques and knowledge involving the art of modeling clay. In a less globalized time, the people involved in ceramics only had the raw materials that existed in the area where they lived. The Chinese developed porcelain and empirical knowledge before the rest of the world because the soils in that part of the world are naturally richer in high-temperature raw materials, as is the case in Japan, where the strength of the archipelago’s idiosyncratic elements was expressed in a unique way in ceramics, especially with stoneware. In India, there is also a very particular relationship with ceramics, influenced directly by the immense mythology of the polytheistic religions but also by the abundance of terracotta as a cheap raw material for creating functional everyday objects.
In other words, all ceramic pastes have the same potential to express the relationship between populations, the environment, necessity and imagination. I believe that we can only fully understand the value of our specificity if we are open, humble and have the opportunity to get to know the uniqueness of other cultures; it is in this encounter that we can truly recognize our identity. When the specific characteristics of a given culture become evident, we recognize in them the traces of a certain universality and it is these experiences that bring us back to the intrinsic capacity to reflect our individual and collective context”

In this conversation, dedicated to all ceramists, teachers, students, ceramics enthusiasts and the general public, we will talk about the aesthetic, technical and historical particularities that he has encountered, as well as the research and projects developed during his artistic residencies in these three countries.

Synopsis: Using the bowl as a guiding principle, the aim is to explore the aesthetic and functional possibilities of this theme, using three of the main forming techniques in ceramics and three of the main pastes: stoneware, porcelain and red clay.
Objective: To develop the eye, refine tactile sensitivity and experiment by making, starting from guided creation to the free expression of volumes and their contents, defined by both the shapes and the unique nature of each paste and each participant.

Syllabus: Forming techniques: primitive modeling, rollers and potter’s wheel.

Decorating techniques: sgraffito and wheel freight

Methodology: The presentation and demonstration of the techniques will follow a chronological sequence, in order to progressively increase the complexity and stimulate the challenge. The aim is for participants to have direct and intensive contact with the 3 pastes and the forming techniques.

In the first part, the oldest techniques will be covered through the simple shaping of small containers with the ball and thumb technique and the roller technique.
In the second part, we will cover the basic steps of working on the wheel to explore the simplest possibilities of the process. Once the basic principle of each technique has been assimilated, the pieces will be free to be made and only integrated into a set of considerations about the countless possibilities of (dis)articulation between function and aesthetics.

Between techniques, a historical background is given in order to contextualize the theme, examples are observed and discussed and curiosities are heard about human history and clay, the geological origin of the pastes, their plasticity and tempering, firing and the phenomena inherent to it.

Duration: 9 hours

Recipients: 6 to 7 adults with or without ceramics experience

Materials: Red clay, stoneware and porcelain, finishing and texturing textiles, 3 potter’s wheels, wheel instruments and other supporting materials (containers, wood, bowls).

Between 2008 and 2014, Ricardo Lopes did artistic residencies in three countries that are universal references in ceramic arts: Japan, China and India. During these trips, he discovered fascinating aspects of the pastes, forming techniques, firing and rituals associated with each culture.

Says the author:

“Practically all cultures have experimented with and developed techniques and knowledge involving the art of modeling clay. In a less globalized time, the people involved in ceramics only had the raw materials that existed in the area where they lived. The Chinese developed porcelain and empirical knowledge before the rest of the world because the soils in that part of the world are naturally richer in high-temperature raw materials, as is the case in Japan, where the strength of the archipelago’s idiosyncratic elements was expressed in a unique way in ceramics, especially with stoneware. In India, there is also a very particular relationship with ceramics, influenced directly by the immense mythology of the polytheistic religions but also by the abundance of terracotta as a cheap raw material for creating functional everyday objects.
In other words, all ceramic pastes have the same potential to express the relationship between populations, the environment, necessity and imagination. I believe that we can only fully understand the value of our specificity if we are open, humble and have the opportunity to get to know the uniqueness of other cultures; it is in this encounter that we can truly recognize our identity. When the specific characteristics of a given culture become evident, we recognize in them the traces of a certain universality and it is these experiences that bring us back to the intrinsic capacity to reflect our individual and collective context”

In this conversation, dedicated to all ceramists, teachers, students, ceramics enthusiasts and the general public, we will talk about the aesthetic, technical and historical particularities that he has encountered, as well as the research and projects developed during his artistic residencies in these three countries.