Anna Shipulina

As a ceramic artist deeply immersed in the craft, I find immense joy in the meditative process of hand-building, which involves creating ceramic objects without the use of a pottery wheel. Instead, I rely on my hands, fingers, and a few simple tools.
This method establishes a more direct and tactile connection between the artist and the clay. I'm drawn to the imperfect and natural aesthetics of ceramic vases and sculptures, achievable through hand-building.
Captivated by the raw elegance, tactile texture, and muted color palette of bare clay, I strive to preserve these qualities by keeping a significant portion of my ceramics unglazed. My aim is to invite the viewer to engage in a sensory experience by physically interacting with the clay's surface in order to understand the essence of each piece.
My work holds a touch of my hand, reflected in its imperfect shape and the occasional fingerprints left on the clay body. It’s important to me that the audience feels the human hands that crafted the object.
I am in pursuit of creating work that is both aesthetic and natural-looking; I found traditional hand-building techniques to be the most suitable. This gives room for imperfection and improvisation. While shaping the clay with my hands, I follow the clay’s lead. The result is forms which are both organic and unpredictable forms giving each piece its own personality.
— Anna Shipulina