Cristina Lorenzet
Cristina grew up in Italy and now works and lives in London. She graduated from the City Lit in 2017 and since then has been continuing to explore clay and sculpture.
Cristina works in ceramics to make sculpture inspired by architecture and the landscape. She observes the environment to identify architectural details, fragments, materials and clues on ways of constructing.
Her aesthetic has been influenced by living in Venice where buildings are constantly being repaired, bricks are eroded and paint is peeling due to the exposure to sea salt. She wants to draw attention to architectural elements often overlooked such as rooftiles, pipes, chimneys and patterns on the brickwork.
She uses discarded objects to texture the clay. These objects are picked up from skips, on pavements or they are repurposed objects such as packaging or garden tools.
Through the subtle application of coloured slips and metal oxides to the clay surface, she tries to convey a narrative and a sense of place.
“Textures are very important in my work. It’s a way for me to be able to layer colour and to create a bit of movement in a piece of work, rather than being pristine. My sense of beauty is not necessarily something perfect and shiny, most likely it’s something which looks like it’s going to break and is fragile.”