Dirty Business – Style

“Kommersant Style” talks about the new hobby of ceramics, how and to whom it can be useful.

“Addictive”, “a calming hobby”, “a feeling of creation” – these are the words used by the participants to describe their suddenly newfangled activity, which involves making ceramic products, creative work with clay under the guidance of a master or independently. The schools, courses, and workshops that have emerged seem like something very artisanal, not very interesting to a wide circle, why suddenly pottery?

In part, it’s worth looking for the roots back in the “Covid” times, when in isolation you had to keep yourself occupied with something and ceramics became one of the distracting activities for those who have their own home – kneading and sculpting outside is certainly more convenient than in an apartment. Then Naomi Watts flashed with a video where she makes a vase (everyone immediately became interested – it turned out that it was for a show, but nevertheless, the topic reached the front pages), model Julia Stegner hired a ceramist to teach children and shared it with the media, and suddenly the hashtag #pottery gained more than 15 million views on social networks. And this already says a lot.

In Moscow, a wave of ceramics has swept across representatives of different ages and professions: the number of gift certificates for a ceramics lesson is off the charts; making a plate, candlestick or cup can be used for a corporate event, a fun birthday celebration, a bachelorette party, or even getting married. Some studios rent out space for co-working spaces, you can rent kilns, and buy the material itself (ceramic mass, engobes, glazes, underglaze and overglaze paints) on the spot.

Natalia Tormyshova, business psychologist, member of the OPPL, believes that there is an unconditional rational grain in this hobby. In her opinion, art therapy (and this is exactly what happens during sculpting) is based on the belief that the contents of a person’s inner “I” are reflected in visual images whenever he draws, paints a picture or sculpts a sculpture – this is how the harmonization of the mental state occurs . “This leads to solving the problem in the most gentle, painless way, a pleasant bonus: it brings a lot of pleasure to the person, helps to balance the psychological state. Pottery classes help, on the one hand, to escape from worries, and on the other hand, to go through the full cycle of creating a product in a short period. The psyche loves stability and completeness,” she says.

This is exactly what the workshops promise: “real magic will happen before your eyes: from a small piece of clay a unique product will appear” – these words on the website of one of them are not just advertising, but the essence of things. Participants in such courses also describe this. Thus, co-owner of the Savva agency, Marina Romanova, talks about her experience of a trip to Suzdal: “to take a little break from history, we went to a master class at Dymov Ceramics.” We had a private lesson, first we made plates on a pottery wheel, then we painted on them. I really liked the feeling of clay, it was interesting how a vessel is born,” she says.

Freedom of expression, a state of lightness – this is the meaning of ceramics. Marina Reginis, a marketing specialist, mentioning her experience of such lessons, shares her observations: “From the outside it seems that it’s easy, but it’s not, making smooth edges and a non-thick bottom on a plate is not very easy. I liked that this is an activity with your hands, you concentrate on one thing and it turns out to be a kind of meditation. I relaxed. It’s interesting to paint, come up with drawings, but your hands don’t obey you, you need to concentrate and control every movement.”

Ceramic artists believe that people are attracted to clay sculpting partly because it gives them a state of comfort and a sense of control over the situation. It is not for nothing that the hero of the famous saga bore the name Potter, which translated means “potter”.

Irina Kiriyenko