Asterisque embraces imperfection, textural landscape and organic form. A collection of handcrafted stoneware and refractory clay by Spanish Artist, Estefanía Padilla.
We are thrilled to welcome Asterisque to the En Gold offering. We sat down with Estefanía to learn more about her process and the intention behind her work.
About Estefanía
Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?
I was born and have lived until two years ago in Cartagena, Spain, an essentially Mediterranean city with a beautiful natural harbor. I have always liked ceramics and a few years ago I felt the need to live on a more physical plane, and I started my career in stoneware. When it was over I couldn't leave her anymore. I moved to the Cabo de Gata natural park in the coast of Almería, and in this natural environment I have found a way of life and a form of expression that allows me a spontaneity and freedom that is difficult to practice in an increasingly normative world. Ceramics is my playground. That's why I don't usually sketch the pieces, I like to get carried away by the moment. For example, the organic forms of ‘yos’ series vases came up one night when I was about to fall asleep, I got up and drew them automatically with my eyes closed. That moment between sleep and wakefulness seems very creative to me.
Asterisque: Aesthetic beauty in hypothetical, impossible, incorrect, or non-existent objects.
What does Asterisque mean to you?
Asterisque is a space in which I dream of invented phrases, images of other worlds, unreal colours and textures yet to be discovered that I slowly transform into ceramic pieces that recreate my imaginary.
Asterisk, astérisque, and asterisco indicates that a form, word or phrase is hypothetical, impossible, incorrect, or nonexistent. I find authentic beauty in those characteristics of words, images, forms, people, or myself.
My handbuilt pieces look for ‘organic geometry’ in forms and mixtures of textures and colors, being the result of a personal journey that started on the Spanish shores of the mediterranean sea, and takes me to different universes of earth, words, landscapes and images. My way of working is to make each piece completely by hand, without molds or wheel, usually applying different textures and then experimental glazes that I prepare myself.
