ceramics
Tegan Emerson
Could you share a bit about yourself and your background?
I grew up in Sydney and spent the past 8 years living in Berlin. Alongside making ceramics I have a career in archiving and image libraries which I find fulfilling to have as a balance to my creative work. I originally went to art school for university and studied photography and then pursued an interest in print making and took a break from making art for a few years. I started making ceramics around 4 years ago and it opened up a world of learning and connection for me.
I decided to move back to Sydney earlier this year to reconnect with the coastal lifestyle here and to slowly set up a new studio and have a slower approach to making ceramics. It’s a craft that I want to integrate into my life over a long period of time so being settled in my home town seemed to make sense, to be grounded and keep growing my knowledge.
What was the early motivation to express your creativity through ceramics?
I never felt totally satisfied working with photography and printmaking as the results were in a 2D format and were just lacking something physical and tangible for me and I had nothing to say with those mediums. I had always wanted to try working with ceramics and to make objects and signed up to a handbuilding class during a time when I was feeling brain dead from being in front of a computer screen all the time for work. It immediately felt liberating to be able to build and sculpt with a material and form objects quickly. I’m a big fan of texture and touch and being able to explore this through clay surfaces was a revelation and the beginning of finding my style.
Were there any mentors or other practitioners that were early inspirations for you?
I grew up in a family where my parents and brother all have a hand craft and well-made objects were highly valued, so I think things clicked for me once I discovered ceramics and the fun of ceramic studios. I tried to stay away from looking at inspiration from different ceramicists when I was figuring out my style and what I was making with ceramics but would take a lot of trips to different museums and look at Greek and Italian antiquities and try and understand what each form of vessel was intended for.
I was also lucky enough to get into ceramics in a city full of really talent ceramicists like Maia Beyrouti, Nahk Studio and Marilyne Blais who were generous enough to talk about their craft and what worked for them. Working in community studios and forming friendships and chatting about ceramics and materials probably allowed me to progress with my craft quickly, as I was with a great group of people who were happy to be sharing their knowledge.
Take us through the process of developing your pieces.
I really rely on intuition and developing pieces from a lot of trial and error with materials and test tiles. I don’t have a design background but still try and consider how is what I’m making any different from pottery that already exists and the classic rule of form follows function. I make pieces that I would use in my daily routine like mugs, tableware, wine coolers, candleholders, incense holders, forms and objects that have significance for me and bring joy to my day. I love cooking and love to create pieces that would be a centrepiece of a meal or for sharing dishes family style. I’ve been challenging myself to cook so many new recipes lately and this is also inspiring me to want to make certain sized mixing and serving bowls.
As I have limited time to work on ceramics, I probably spend a lot of time letting ideas stew before trying them out. If I’m working on vases or large forms, I tend to make sketches to see what kind of silhouettes work best with decorative features so there’s harmony and it looks organic.
From working on the wheel I’m now aware how much of a mind and body connection there is to the craft, and that I need to visualise what it is that I want to make to get the best results.
We know that your work is inspired by organic coral architecture, deep-sea life and deep-time geological forms as well as the dualism of build-up and erosion. Can you share your thoughts on why these references are so important to you?
The materiality of ceramics is all about the use and manipulation of the elements, and because vitrified ceramic takes thousands of years to break down again, I’m always thinking about organic forms and erosion when working with clay. As nature is in decline because of global warming, I’m conscious of my own impact as well and try to not fire work excessively if I dont have to. I’m fascinated by the idea of antiquities or shells being in the ocean and being worn down by waves but also being covered in barnacles or becoming calcified, going through their own slow process of change. We get to imagine the journey of these objects and try and read their history through their beautiful surfaces. After living in Berlin for awhile, I started to feel very landlocked and disconnected from the environment that I grew up in, and being able to access the coast easily. My summer holidays were always a highlight of the grey year in Berlin. I think subconsciously this joy of summertime and objects and tableware that are associated with a holiday house or cooking for a group of friends, and souvenirs from a trip crept into my work as a major inspiration and a probably cry of help to myself with homesickness. I just want to capture the simplicity of the carefree feeling of being in nature and the ocean into timeless joyful objects.
How important has your practice been for your well-being and mental health?
My practice is a cornerstone for my mental health. These days I need to feel like I’m putting my best self into my ceramics. It’s a practice that’s so connected with using the body in a physical way it’s hard to ignore if I’m tired or not feeling it, because the work probably just won't be good. I’ve mostly always worked full time alongside making my ceramic work so it's important to me that I’m not over doing it and that I’m getting something positive out of spending my free time on my craft. I’ve been through a journey with my ceramics and what
I’ve put into for sure. Moving back to Sydney allowed me to re-evaluate my relationship with ceramics and my mental health as each step of getting back into making and using a studio has been a conscious choice rather than following routine. But making ceramics has also connected me with lots of like minded people and this has also been extremely positive for my well-being, to be able to connect over a craft and certain way of living.
Where do you think lies the biggest potential to preserve important local crafts in the contemporary context?
I’ve seen in Australia how successful and rich with resources something like The Australian Ceramics Association can be in connecting ceramicists and also sharing learning resources and inspiration. There are so many established ceramicists who have been working for decades and have such rich knowledge about traditional processes, who were also self publishing books on their knowledge and techniques too. I think it’s really important for cross-generational connections to keep knowledge being transferred to younger generations who are dedicated to learning about traditional methods and techniques. I feel like we need a new wave of counter-culture against short instagram videos, to preserve ever-evolving knowledge through print which can stand the test of time. But I’m just a sucker for the aesthetic of books from the 70s and would love this as a passion project.
What is your greatest ambition now, when it comes to your practice?
My greatest ambition at the moment is to be in the flow with my work, feeling connected to the new skills I’m learning and also nourishing myself with inspiration. I’m working on my throwing skills and how to integrate it into my practice, mixing handbuilding with thrown forms. I’ve been pretty happy just putting in the hours and failing a lot, without a pressure to be producing and selling work. I’ve just started filling up the shelves with pieces that look good enough to fire.
What upcoming projects make you excited right now?
At the moment I’m excited to be trying out new clays and trying to make my own glazes and figuring out what local materials fit with my style and work. I took a break for a few months to settle in after moving back to Sydney and to find my feet again with ceramics, and learning more about the well established ceramic scene in and around Sydney is what I’m excited about at the moment. You can find Tegan at: Instagram: @tegan.emerson Website: www.teganemerson.net Portrait by Toby Sheppard and the rest photos belong to Tegan.
