INTERVIEW WITH CERAMIC ARTIST GIORGIA PIU
ROSE DE NOUR
The ceramic artist Giorgia Piu was born and lives in Italy and has strong Mediterranean roots. Her journey with clay began only three years ago but from that exact moment it felt as natural a state as breathing.
Giorgia began ceramics at the laboratory of Matilde Tibuzzi "Lab123" in Rome while managing two jobs. Not being able to dedicate herself full time to ceramics was unsettling, because early on she knew she could do so much more. It was a meeting with Maestro Libero Ortuso during the pandemic that changed everything.
”He gave me so much desire to learn and to live my artistic life in a positive and light way. I finally felt free and without chains. I felt I could start a structured journey but one that also could make my soul speak.”
Giorgia tell us about your greatest inspirations or influences.
My approach to clay is constantly contemplative, a continuous dialogue with matter that leads me to honor the simplest gestures, such as the sound of water to soften the earth, or the raw and material touch that takes me on a journey one way. She and I.
I am constantly inspired by nature and its purest and perfect beauty and its strength, I have approaches to initiate myself into a free form of matter that is completely instinctive and natural.
My influences have several ramifications, perhaps this is also what makes the product unique. I love the fluidity of the contemporary style but in the same way I feel extremely marked on our deepest roots, aiming at an emotional approach to my sculptures.
Do the current innovations in technology affect your work as a creative?
Until now in no way, on the contrary, I love to go back and look for styles or working methods from the past. I am an ancient soul with a modern background.
Tell us about your creative process
It depends on what I create, normally I let the movement flow while trying to give an imprint to a precise idea. Each Nour collection "talks" about this. Normally I love to experiment with shapes through small-scale creations, and then reproduce them on a large or medium scale.
What are your thoughts on the “ art world” as we know it today.
It depends on which part of the world you speak. In Italy every corner, even the village far from the metropolis, is full of art or history. We live in a country that could be a power but is absolutely not valued by governments (current and past), consequently the roots of our nation, the artisan shops inevitably close. This situation is infuriating. I look out over the world and I am extremely fascinated, to see so many choices, so much free expression and so much support between artists that it creates a kind of breath for me. Art is life.
Anything coming up that we should know about?
I am currently drawing and designing various sculptures, including wall sculptures. As I said before, I love design and furniture so I never want to limit myself, ceramic is a material so full of freedom that it would be a shame to take only one direction.
What does wellbeing mean to you Giorgia?
"Mens sana in corpore sano".
At the base of our lives this should be our mantra, despite the busy times we are living in.
I try to help myself (especially before and after long hours of session in the lab) by practicing yoga or walking. Activities that help, to find your balance but also to feel your body.
Anything else you would like to share with us?
Before starting the journey with ceramics, I was painting and drawing. It was my main form of expression. I really miss dedicating parts of the night to the sheet of paper and the pencil, traveling to other realities and dimensions. I miss doing it on ceramics too, but sculpture takes so much energy that I don’t have such a light mind for this artistic dimension that I’ve always loved, but who knows in the future if I can match these expressions.