Cuba Vase - Medium

The remarkable plastic nature of clay—its softness, responsiveness, and ability to hold the memory of every touch—is often lost in the moulded production of pottery. In many manufactured forms, clay becomes uniform and controlled, stripped of the vitality that makes it such a unique material. With the Cuba Series, I set out to restore that sense of immediacy, allowing the living qualities of clay to remain visible while creating forms that are both bold in presence and practical in use.

The Cuba Vase was born through a spontaneous and intuitive process. A thick, snake-like roll of plastic clay was formed by hand, cut cleanly from the mass, and stood upright on its end. In that simple gesture, the form declared itself—strong, upright, and full of character. My fingerprints remain impressed in the surface where the piece was lifted, preserving the direct evidence of the maker’s hand and the softness of the clay at that moment in time.

From this original core shape, the wider Cuba Series evolved, inspiring the Cuba Jug and Cuba Lights. Each piece carries the same sculptural energy and honesty of process, celebrating clay not as an industrial material, but as a medium of movement, touch, and expression. The result is a collection of functional objects that also stand as sculptural forms, rich with gesture, character, and life.