Makers
Meet: Lucía Ocejo, Ceramicist
Meet Lucía Ocejo, we caught up with her at her East London studio - and it was a joy!
Lucia Ocejo is currently based at Crown Works Pottery in Bethnal Green, she has created a beautiful, rustic but refined collection of tableware for Pophams Home. We are so honoured to have her as one of our makers and truly admire her work.
Tell us a little bit about your journey and what it took to become a ceramicist?
If you had asked me where I would have been 5 years ago, I never would have expected to end up working as a potter in London. Although art and creativity is something that has always been in my family; my mother is a musician, my father an architect, and my grandmother a painter so you could say I was always going to pursue something creative.
I started out studying sculpture with a focus in metal casting at Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, but I soon found that the physicality of metal working was brutal and exhausting - a total workout! Looking for a change, I went over to the ceramics department and it felt like I had seen the light! The wheel throwing teacher, Ben Ryternand, became such an incredible marker in my life - his enthusiasm completely made me fall in love with the material and my choice to become a potter is down to him! Even if I was quite bad at first!
In the beginning were you more focused on the wheel or hand forming?
I was introduced to both at the same time but was definitely more into more sculptural clay work at the start, such as figurative and portraiture. Took me a bit longer to enjoy and become proficient in wheel thrown ceramics.
And are you glad you came to London, do you enjoy living here?
Yeah I love it here - That's when I became a full time ceramicist - started as a technician at Crown Works Pottery. Coming to London was such a last minute decision, it was right before Brexit and felt like a ‘now or never’ moment. I applied to a couple of studios and Giulietta Hextall, Founder of Crown Works Pottery offered me an interview in October of 2018, I dropped everything and flew over from Boston to meet her. I’ve been here for two years now.
Tell us more about the maquettes and what inspired you to start making them?
My attraction to the Aortic Maquettes was all about creating a connection with Mexico from abroad. When I go home to Mexico, I like to visit Oaxaca, a state to the Southeast of Mexico City. Here the Mixe people make a lot of these multi-spout shapes. Originally they were made with just two spouts for wedding, the two spouts joined by a handle symbolising the union of a couple. But I just fell in love with the shape, and since the 1980s and globalisation the artists in this area have started to get more creative with the number of spouts and forms - recently I saw one once with up to 60 spouts! At University my hand-building teacher asked us to take a pre-existing shape for inspiration and play with it. These became the first! Traditionally in Mexico, these forms are hand built and shaped with a dry corncob. With time, I translated the shape to be thrown on the wheel in segments, and with this alteration, I developed a new aesthetic.
Your work feels very raw - what’s the inspiration behind this style?
I’m someone who really appreciates handmade work, I like leaving hints and clues in the final object that reveal the history of how it’s been made. So for example, when glazing I like to show the drips in the glaze and highlight it as part of the process of making. I also don’t like anything to be too pristine - my work is a reflection of my own personality!
Is there a single piece you’ve made that feels particularly special to you?
If you scroll down on my Instagram, there's a photo of me standing on a stool hand building a piece about my size in height! It was the first time I had ever made anything to this scale and was a real sense of achievement - sadly I had to leave it behind in art school in Boston so it’s probably sitting on a corner somewhere!
You touched on it earlier but is there anyone who has been particularly important on your journey to become a full-time ceramicist?
The teacher I mentioned earlier, Ben Ryterband, was definitely the key to my journey as a ceramicist - he was so supportive and inspiring, the sort of teacher who would open up the kiln room at 3am so you could finish a piece. He’s definitely the one reason I changed from sculpture in metal to ceramics.
It feels like there is such a strong ceramics community in London - have you found this since living here?
Yes, having the perspective of living and working in Mexico City, Boston and London, I have never felt more supported than in London, and in particular East London. It’s amazing to have such a strong creative network to talk to and teach each other.
Find out more at www.luciocejo.com
Follow Lucia @lucio.ocejo.