fbpx
ΥΑΝNIS MATHIOUDAKIS

The simple things that serve as raw material for the complex meanings she produces through her art.

Christina Morali

Clay Bridges

Text: Zafeiris Konstantinidis
Christina Morali

What’s the common feature between life and clay? “You breathe life into a pliable soil. It is a kind of magic.” The following phrase by ceramist Christina Morali takes us “into the world of creatio ex nihilo” she has devoted her entire life to, having earned multiple and prestigious distinctions.

Christina Morali has studied Interior Decoration at Doxiadis School in Athens and Ceramics at the Hammersmith College of Art (now named Chelsea) in London. Since 1975 she has been running a pottery workshop in Athens. Having studied both in Greece and abroad, she makes a case for two distinct worlds in the field of ceramics. Already by 1973, during her studies in London, she was wondering over the absence of a ceramics school in Greece, given the fact that this form of art has been present in our country ever since the Neolithic Age. 

Memories of the past keep the flame of ceramics burning up until today, and admirable works are still being produced in Greece. “Clay is inscribed in our DNA after all,” she winds up. The ceramists of the ’60s and the ’70s ignited the spark of an artistic tradition that remains active in our country. Unfortunately, the established preconceptions back then prevented the recognition of ceramics as a true art, as is the case today. “Upon hearing the word ceramics, everyone thought you were just making flower pots,” she mentions.

Christina Morali detects a grave shortfall in ceramics training. Whereas ceramics “keeps producing value” as a form of art, its academic presence is scarce, preventing young and upcoming artists from acquiring knowledge and a supportive background that would serve as a starting point. No surprise therefore that she felt the need to channel the knowledge gained from decades of experience to the younger generations, through the workshop she founded. The idea of transforming people with no artistic background whatsoever into ceramists intrigued her to a great extent.

Memories of the past keep the flame of ceramics burning up until today, and admirable works are still being produced in Greece. Clay is inscribed in our DNA after all.

Christina Morali

Among the three branches of ceramics, the industrial-artisanal, the traditional and the contemporary-artistic, she defines herself as a contemporary ceramist. She has a soft spot for the traditional ceramics workshops, which she discovered by chance during her studies. “Distinct odours (the baking of the clay), earthy colours and the potter’s wheel fascinate me the same as back then,” she confesses. Red high-temperature clay and porcelain are “her most confident friends in the daily journey of creation.”

Speaking of which, the daily routine is her main source of inspiration. She observes the simple things that serve as raw material for the complex meanings she produces through her art, while her work is famous for the wide gamut of the themes it touches upon. One of her most distinguished and indicative works is the pop art series, featuring creations such as the Milko Vase and the Petit Beurre Sous Vert, but also the installations composed by pillows and shoes, while many more of her works such as Arkadi, Nivea, Aspirin etc. were gradually hailed as iconic and gained the love of the audience. As for the pop art series, she explains: “It was a period full of humour and creativity. I dare to say that I was one of the first to get involved with the art of design in our country.”

She did not cross paths with art by chance, of course, as the artistic DNA has been running in her veins for decades now. “My grandfather used to draw cartoon-like stories, which accompanied my daily life and my playing time. Moreover, my father’s brother is Yiannis Moralis, one of the most landmark painters of contemporary Greek painting.” Christina Morali builds art bridges between vision and professionalism. Her career, though, as well as her perception as an artist, embody everything ceramics and art stand for.

Photos

Follow Christina Morali
Facebook | Instagram | Website
Contact
xmorali60@gmail.com