Cristina Mato

I like to think of what I do as sewing with clay. The thin slabs of clay are the fabric, which I cut into threads to build structures full of seams, very much like a seamstress working at her mannequin.

Paperclay gives me the possibility to defy the laws of physics and push my pieces to the limit. The colour helps define the pattern and adds drama to the composition. For a brief period of time, my pieces stand proud and symmetric, ready to face the kiln, which will make them more humble and do its magic to give them movement and flow. The light will do the rest, printing on the wall a net of shadows trying to escape from the seams.

Sewing with clay. A whole revelation to see how my childhood games between scraps of fabric, pins, and scissors have shaped my artistic expression. I find joy in the creative process, the fact that from a formless lump of clay I can build something original and meaningful that was not there before, or better still, it was already there, just waiting to be discovered.

— Cristina Mato

I have been working with clay since 2010, attending pottery courses at Escuela Municipal de Artes Plásticas y Escénicas de Oviedo, Spain. I have taken part in several individual and collective exhibitions.

• Finalist at 10th El Vendrell International Ceramics Biennale, El Vendrell, Tarragona, October 2019
• 4th Cluj International Ceramics Biennale, Cuj-Napoca, Romania, October 2019
• Finalist at Premios ArtsFAD 2019 – Disseny Hub, Barcelona
• Finalist at 14º Premio Nacional de Cerámica “Ciutat de Castelló” 2018, Castellón, C. Va-lenciana, November 2018
• Finalist at 19 Biennal de Cerámica d’Esplugues Algelina Alós, Barcelona, October 2018
• European Ceramic Context 2018 – Open Call, Bornholm, Denmark.
• Cultur 3 Club 2017 – Feria de Artistas. Gijón, Spain.
• PATRONES [wireframes] – Individual Exhibition, Valey Centro Cultural, Castrillón, Spain 2016.

— Cristina Mato