Ceramics has always served as fragile but invaluable records of stories past and present.The mysteries created by the interaction between form, colour, texture, surface patterning and patination of Loretta’s work, invite decoding to reveal the hidden narratives of contemporary cultures and forgotten histories in all their light and shade.
Loretta Braganza’s techniques are meticulous yet gloriously unorthodox.
Most potters build upwards onto a base of clay. Loretta fixes the base at the end of the making process. A paper template of the pot profile is made with allowances for shaping and stretching the form. Two identical pieces of clay are cut from this template and joined at the side seams – creating an immediate pot profile.
The form is then pushed outwards from the inside, recut, assessed and added to if necessary till the concept is fully realised. It is at this stage that the base is attached.
For texture, anything that can dent and create linear markings is used – from kitchen implements, house hold gadgets, builders’ implements, violin strings, dental sticks and engineering files.’