CREATING MODERN ART FROM THE EARTH

As a lifestyle brand, the idea of complimenting our current lines with ceramic products came very naturally. ‘Wearing art and living in art’, has always been MIA PAPA’s motto after-all. The art of making ceramics holds many similarities to the art of making our garments.

The messiness of working with wet or damp clay and the need to follow a process to achieve results forces you to slow down, and focus on a single, absorbing, meditative or therapeutic activity. There is no way to speed up clay-drying or firing, there's no 'clay-microwave' – ceramics take as much time to make today as they did 2,000 years ago.

"I love using clay and patiently producing a useful, beautiful object with it. It’s a perfect medium to convey one's imagination and encompasses sensual, textural and cognitive qualities" – Mia Papaefthimiou-Milcic.

Pottery vessels were an invention of ancient tribes of men, as clay was abundant in many areas. When mankind discovered fire, pottery left near it was hardened. The hardened clay vessels were more durable and fewer replacements were needed. This added more leisure time for those who worked to produce items made of clay. Experimentation eventually led to hotter fires and kilns. As time wore on, ancient men discovered how to decorate their pots and add glazes and define their cultures.

Similar to ancient times, glazing holds a unique role within the art forms of pottery and ceramics for MIA PAPA as well. Coating with glaze finishes our piece after we have hand-drawn the parts of the Parthenon floor plan and helps preserve it for the future. 

Pottery requires to set aside time to follow a procedure and predetermined techniques, which in turn makes for a slow, soothing experience. Unlike with digital technology, you can't take a step back or undo what you've done. Pottery is grounding as it makes you humble, says Mia. We deliberately deploy techniques that discourage complacency and result in unpredictable, organic effects. Therefore, all of our final products are unique and never completely identical. "I enjoy not exerting total control over the process”, says the founder of MIA PAPA.

There are no shortcuts to making a successful vessel. Clay is fragile and breakable when fired. To begin with, you have to prepare the clay by wedging it and this is done by slamming the clay against a table or workbench to get rid of its air bubbles, otherwise it explodes in the kiln.

In these challenging times, we see the art of making our ceramics as a way to slow down and be calm, but also we see it as a way to be mindful, through the patience required. "Mindfulness is about being present in the moment, and the same goes with ceramics. You have to focus on the now because of the interaction you have with the material, which is so malleable and immediate."

Enjoy our Nectar & Ambrosia Ceramic Collection and let us know what you think!

xxx

your MIA PAPA team