FIRE & EARTH VESSELS X 10AM
Working intimately with Earth has been a huge part of my creative path over these past few years. A journey that has been made of many cycles - each taking me deeper and deeper into the essence of things.
What I follow is a longing. A desire to connect to something primal, raw, undisguised, unapologetic - a force that resides within, that I have known very well and that I feel called to remember.
There is a playful side to my personality, that is naive and maiden-like. And then there is an old grandmother, who comes alive supported by a force that feels more ancient. An undersoul of sorts, who is chtonic, from the depths of the Earth. It is the Earth, in all her forms - that always reminds me of Her.
Working with clay in particular, has been an incredible way to connect to this wise presence. A practice becomes even more embodied when working with clay sourced in the wilderness. It tunes me into a different kind of awareness that feels animal-like. I observe, touch, smell and feel the Earth in different places. Noticing the differences in her texture, in her color - across mountains, cliffs, rivers.
I continue to be humbled by how intimate this experience can be. I often think of it as touching the naked body of the Earth. And I know that she is happy to be touched - as a Mother with loving kindness, as a Lover with sensual eros. Everything about it feels sacred.
And what follows continues to be even more so. Gathering this Earth to processing it, turning it into usable clay is a long and devoted process. A very experimental one also, where I am asked to simply surrender into what the clay wants to show me. Often times things do not work out as expected - but also, in this process - I am shown new pathways to create from. The Earth continues to work with me in this way, asking me to let go and make space for collaboration.
Speaking of collaborations.
Over the last year I got to create a series of unique vessels made of this wild clay: incense burners, vases, and tall vessels for ritual. Each of them came to life in its own time over the course of many months. Each of them carries the energy of the landscape it came from - the specific places around Crete that I feel a deep connection with.
Once they were all formed and fired, they danced in in a ceremonial fire. This gave each of them a distinct smoke mark. A touch of aggression, of warmth, of ancient power.
These pieces are now available at 10am Apotheke - an incredible concept shop & gallery, curated and designed by the team at 10am, located in the premises of their magical loft spaces in Athens.
Eva, The founder of 10am - was born and has roots in Crete. Our collaboration on this collection was a journey of connecting to the heart and to the threads that binds us to Land, to Mother, to Earth.
Words cannot express just how grateful I am that the Universe brought us together to weave magic in this way. Aligned partnership is a gift that allows this work to expanded in a truly meaningful way. All we have to do is create the space for it to be witnessed and allow it to speak its truth beyond words.
