CERAMICS IN FOCUS: EMMA DE CLERCQ

Having founded Clay Collective – a shared pottery studio – in 2016, the London-based ceramicist blended a Brutalist tendency with hand-formed and slab building techniques to create simple yet strikingly bold homewares. Incorporating a sense of play into her routine, Emma’s work has built an aesthetic tendency that draws influence from architecture and contemporary design to introduce a forward-thinking and instantly engaging sensibility with a spirit of playfulness.

We sit down with Emma de Clercq to discuss her history with pottery, her work and how ceramics has impacted her life ahead of the launch of the UrlfreezeShops x adidas Ultraboost OG 1.0 “Ceramic Craze” sneaker on 20th August.

What initially led you to the world of ceramics?

I spent the last few years working as an editor for a digital platform, so I was always glued to the computer, writing copy and looking at images. I ended up doing ceramics in the evenings as a bit of fun, to do something that used my hands and to get a bit messy. A friend of mine took me along to Hackney City Farm in London, where they do these really casual drop-in sessions in the evening where you can have a glass of wine and muck about with clay. I completely caught the bug from there. After a few months of that, a few of us who’d been going every week decided to try to find a space for ourselves where we could carry on playing, really. Luckily, we found a studio space in Hackney that had everything we needed, even though it was small. We were dipping in and out at that time as we all had full time jobs. We were all working in creative industries – architects, designers and photographers – so we would share it pretty easily. I would force myself to go along after work, and sometimes it was really fun but often it would be frustrating as I wasn’t able to go with a fresh mind after being at work all day. I started to go along a lot more at the weekend and took on an order here and there. Eventually, I had enough people who wanted to buy from me that I could bite the bullet and go full time. For a lot of people, the idea of getting to do your hobby as a job feels like a pipedream or self-indulgent. It felt off limits and quite scary, but having that space with other people, learning from each other, it felt more normal to see other people take that leap.

What is it about pottery and ceramics as a medium that inspires you?

It’s weird, because at art college, I never even went near the ceramics workshop - it felt really intimidating. I think it was realising that its actually very accessible and just loving the feeling of just being covered in mud and practically in your pyjamas, with an apron on and your hair scraped back. It just feels really lovely to be working in that sort of space and getting messy. It somehow makes my world feel more ordered the messier I get.

How would you define your style and approach to ceramics?

I did a little bit of throwing at the start, but I don’t think I’m cut out for it – I’m too clumsy and you have to be more agile than I am. So I started hand building, specifically building with slabs, where you roll out the clay really flat and let it get to a stage where it’s dry enough so that it can hold its own shape and you can construct things rather than make them in one go. With throwing, everything has to happen very quickly, but when you’re slab building it is more like constructing with 3D maquettes. It’s methodical and quite slow, which suits me. I like working in a way that is very stripped back to the basics, quite minimal. I suppose my aesthetic is quite minimal, but I like a bit of something fun thrown in here and there. I like to strip my designs back as much as I can, until I’m left with something quite simple but striking. Not to overcomplicate things, but to make something that has a little bit of edge that’s not going to date very quickly.

What guides your creative practice? Is there a specific philosophy or process that you adhere to when creating your work?

I like things that pack a little bit of punch, that aren’t too frilly or overcomplicated. Monolithic almost, despite the scale of what I work in being quite small - I’m hoping to dip my toe into larger works once I get a little bit braver. Simple, geometric shapes guide my process – everything I make is quite angular. I like things quite Brutalist and blocky. Creating the combination of form and function in Brutalism, stripping things back to function, but there’s beauty in there too, without pomp – it’s structural and simple, with no unnecessary parts. Everything is there for a reason.

Ceramics and pottery have been made for centuries, with the practice dating back over 25,000 years – why do you think the medium has remained so present within culture for such an extended period?

Especially for me, living in a city like London, and working at a computer in digital media, you’re really aching to use your hands again and slow everything down. The thing with ceramics is that you need to have patience as it’s a slow process, it’s the complete opposite of something that moves very quickly. It’s so therapeutic to work with your hands – it’s hard to worry about something when you’re concentrating on what’s directly in front of you. I always find that when I’m working, I don’t get distracted with other things because the material requires that you stay with it, you can’t stop and go all the time, so you have to see it through.

Made with natural materials by hand, the process of making ceramics seems tied to the natural world - does the natural world inspire the forms you create?

It definitely doesn’t – the work I’m creating is so far from that – I’m more interested in man-made elements and influences, such as architecture and furniture design. Although I love looking at modern art and fine art, I’m very aware that what I love about this medium is that I’m working in the craft sphere. Sometimes I try and make things that have elements that are more aligned with fine art sculpture, but I love the functional element and the lack of frills in working as a potter, rather than an artist. I would never call myself an artist – I’d call myself a maker or a designer instead. I love the lack of frills attached to it as a medium.

The UrlfreezeShops x adidas Ultraboost OG "Ceramic Craze" will launch online via UrlfreezeShops Launches on 20th August.