Ceramicist Ken Adams studied functional ceramics in Shibuya, Tokyo.
At the time, he was working in finance and it took almost
two decades for him to finally devote his focus to clay.
He had made an agreement with himself back in Japan;
should his favourite creation – a small bowl inspired by 18th century
Seto ware – break, he would start his own studio.
Four years ago, the bowl broke.

Adams takes great joy from the unpredictability of the process,
celebrating failures and imperfections in the work as chances
for the material to express itself and its own journey to becoming.
Each day in the studio presents a new lesson to him.

 “Making things by hand is a form of meditation and escape,” explains Adams. “It is the antithesis of industrial production; every piece is unique and has a story to tell. It introduces and increases the chance
of ‘creative error’!”

Adams was born in Greece and came into contact with the material
of clay as a young child. His academic life led him to a science degree, and it his a job in banking that took him to Japan,
where he rediscovered ceramics as an adult.

His explorations as a maker have allowed him to discover
the many faces of clay, and the infinite number of textures he can create. HIs work is markedly strange looking, built around balloons
that are popped and removed to leave delicate, sphere-like vessels.
His pieces have a delicacy and translucency that gives them
an otherworldly quality, and their textured surfaces reinforce this

“The vessels are examples of what can be achieved using a process
I call balloon casting: using balloons as an armature to manipulate
semi-liquid clay (otherwise known as ‘slip’ in the ceramics profession). The innovation is to take advantage of the unique property of latex: extraordinary expansion and contraction, to create extraordinary vessels and textures,” explains Adams.

He hopes that his pieces have a certain unbelievable quality to them, seeming so strange and unconventional to the viewer that they almost seem not of this world.
He hopes that this inspires creative
thought in others.

 “At the moment I am simply addicted to exploring every
(crazy… and the crazier the more fun it is)
idea that comes to mind: how far
can I unconventionally push the materials and technique
to create something out of the ordinary?”

The pieces included in the Cluster Crafts online exhibition and shop include Crinoid Dessert – a delicate fronded porcelain vessel that is reminiscent of Crinoid fossils, “created on a Friday evening after supper”,
and Almost Random After Breakfast – reference
to a rather playful, random application of slip
on a balloon after breakfast

Artist and maker Luciana Grazia Menegazzi works
with porcelain paper clay. Her work investigates
themes of fragility and lightness, playing with everyday forms like vases and bowls, trying to capture
the essence of these forms in a new way.
Like Adams, she works towards creating
seemingly impossible weightlessness in her work
and also uses balloons to help support
the structures she creates.

Her Life series is an attempt to capture natural elements like water and air in the clay. She layers light
and dark-coloured paper clays, so that overlaps
create very subtle changes in the way light moves
through and over the vessels.

Grazia trained and works as an architect, establishing her own studio in the late 1980s. Although also a highly creative field, her expression as an artist allows
her more freedom and submission to the unknown
than her career can.

A continuous theme in her work is fragility and lightness. By taking well-known shapes and reimagining them,
she hopes to create a sense of curiosity and disorientation in the mind of the viewer,
encouraging them to look closer.

“I use balloons to make my favourite shapes or I work with slabs, but I also with creative methods that I have invented or perfected. The most part of my work consists in a constant research to push the boundaries
of my favourite medium.”

Grazia also explains that creating pieces with
this delicate feel reminds her of the fragility
and preciousness of life.