Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Age: 42
Occupation: Ceramicist.
Instagram: @ludmillaceramics
Hometown: Bascassan, France.
Studio location: Bascassan, France.
Describe what you make: I make ceramic sculptures.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: A collection of jars based on the Armenian genocide and my family history. A way to stop transgenerational trauma and heal through the clay and creative process.
Describe the problem your work solves: It helps me heal and be present.
Describe the project you are working on now: My first solo show “STASIS” at Guild Gallery in New York. I’ve worked on clay sculptures that explore the principle of static motion. I collected materials in nature like twigs, stones, sand, and tree bark to either integrate them into the original clay I use or utilize them as a tool to create textures.
The whole show is an ode to nature. Some pieces were wood-fired in an Anagama kiln (an ancient Japanese type of kiln) and the work is exposed to the embers, the ashes, and the flames licking the clay which give particular tints and textures. I also used different colors of clay—some were found in the Basque Country where I live. They were used as a slab to give a different tint and some were mixed with smoother clay to give a certain depth. Every vessel in this exhibition embodies a state of equilibrium. That which exists in the intimate microcosm between the clay and I. And between my thoughts and my environment at large. Nature.
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: I’m also showing some sculptures at Object and Thing’s “A Summer Arrangement” at LongHouse in East Hampton, faturing works by many other artists and designers. It takes inspiration from Jack Lenor Larsen’s non-hierarchical approach to objects and brings together contemporary works, including site-specific commissions, of both art and design.
What you absolutely must have in your studio: I love listening to NTS radio and having books around me. Nature plays an important part in my process and being able to see mountains from my studio window is very inspiring to me. I also need silence in order to create a dialogue with my sculptures.
What you do when you’re not working: Work is not really work to me. So I am fortunate enough to be able to flow between making sculptures and life: spending time with my family. Seeing exhibitions and different forms of art is vital.
Sources of creative envy: Louise Bourgeois because of her large body of work and her approach to art that was utterly cathartic.
The distraction you want to eliminate: Administration. France has a good reputation for that
Concrete or marble? Marble.
High-rise or townhouse? I would say townhouse, as I live in a farmhouse.
Remember or forget? What was the question again?
Aliens or ghosts? Definitely ghosts.
Dark or light? You can’t have one without the other.
