A piece nurtured by memories of the marks left in the ground by the ploughs, like wrinkles caused by the natural ageing process recreated in these black ceramic rectangular panels. With the rain, the earth is smoothed out again, as if rejuvenated - this contrast is here.
The panel is all done by hand, shaping the clay as if kneading bread, creating the furrows of the ground along the piece with a sickle, textures that allow us to see a different shade within the clay. Outside, the piece is burnished, or smoothed with the help of a pebble from the river, recalling the level ground after a rainstorm.
The black pottery of Molelos is a centuries-old tradition. Firing a wood kiln in a reducing atmosphere is what gives these pieces their black colour.
A piece with a strong aesthetic impact from its curvature, like a stylised horn of any working animal that helps people with their farming tasks.
The wet clay is modelled by hand, by first creating the shape of a pyramid. This is then rolled up and worked until a cone is formed that is slightly tilted from the middle to the tip. The piece is hollowed out to give it extra lightness, and there are small furrows in the base, like the wrinkles of ageing. When it is almost dry, the clay is burnished - polished repeatedly with river pebbles to get rid of any porosity. The finished piece is baked in a wood-fired kiln for about 10 hours in a reducing atmosphere, which gives the characteristic black tone to the clay.
