Francesco Filiaci
I listen to music when I throw on the potter’s wheel, notes filling my mind as I reach a meditative state. Water, clay, the sponge, rib, and the forces on the wheel center my mind as the vessel takes shape created from the intention of movement. Pottery is a dance that is part of me.
I work obsessively on each form, often staying with one form for a year at a time. Each work is created in three significant pulls. With each pull, the vision develops, giving birth to a vessel unique in thickness, size, lip and foot, texture and color.
My signature form is a cylinder vase that has porcelain slip applied with a brush. In my pursuit of learning to throw taller pieces I’ve come to throw standing up.
My obsession with Moon Jars began when I saw Bernard Leach’s work in England. The form of a bowl on top of a bowl captivated me.
For me the wheel embodies the wonderful interplay between luck, intention, stability, fragility, time, space and precise coordination. I find the dance between slip and clay incredibly playful, exciting and gratifying.
This gives me great joy.
