Windglaze pottery studio was interested in collaborating with artists, designers and clay enthusiasts, to explore interior products for the spiritual-emotional endeavour of their users. They were keen that the products should have the voice of clay and take inspiration from Indian spirituality, philosophy, symbolism, that the city Pondicherry be encompassed to create a contemporary-looking handcrafted product. She was interested in diving deeper into the voice of the clay following intuitive methods, strengthening the interest in the plasticity nature of clay and integrating its previous learnings from Interior design with Ceramic design.
A study was done to understand the fabric of Pondicherry and Auroville, - its cultural roots in arts, crafts and spirituality. Followed by a literature study on Indian mythology, symbolism, iconography, temple architecture, sacred spaces to understand the evolution of mythological stories translating into various diverse forms of arts, crafts and products. Visits to temples and user’s homes were made and conversations were kindled on the above topics. Markets were studied to understand the consumer’s visual perceptions and needs in developing the product.
Material explorations were done to explore the property of plasticity of the clay and to identify its unique voice. Based on the insights from the research, further concepts were generated. Molds were made and skill training was undertaken for artisans.
Due to the pandemic, the project couldn't find its completion in developing its collection of products. However the overall experience in a pottery studio gave a wider and deeper understanding of the sequence of events in integrating the process of research, conceptualizing and training in a studio pottery context.
Ceramic, Ganesha, Indian mythology, Spirituality, Studio pottery
