How a Ceramicist Deals with Mistakes 💡
A newsletter about writing, art and living more creatively
If you snuck into my saved insta post collections, you'd definitely see plenty of ceramic pieces and brands in there. So I had to reach out to Brooklyn-based Sarah Hussaini, the creator of Not Work Related. These pieces are playful, bold, kind of reminiscent of Memphis Design and retro shapes to me. I spoke with Hussaini about the process of making ceramics and what's next for NWR.
There’s something about ceramics that’s really speaking to our need for the tactile and imperfect, I think. What first drew you to the medium?
That tactility is exactly what drew me to ceramics. My background is in architecture and I had always been able to work with my hands in school. Once I started working in an office, I lost that access to make things by hand. A lot of that work is outsourced or given to interns. So when I came back to ceramics (I used to do it in high school), it really was because I was searching for a physical form of expression.
Ceramics is also, it seems, a process that involves having to let go of mistakes and move on. Any tips for creatives on how to do that?
It is constantly humbling when pieces don't work out. Everything is made by hand, so it's heartbreaking when something doesn't work, especially when you're on a deadline.
There are a few things that mitigate this for me. The first being that I make a lot of pieces, so each singular piece is not so precious. Of course, I have some pieces that take more time and then it's harder to deal with the mistakes. The second thing is that I sell every piece I make, I keep a seconds section on my page since most of my seconds have just small flaws, it's easy to find someone that doesn't mind them at all.
I love seeing your process on instagram. I know you shared how you recently got your own kiln and that has recently been a huge, positive change. What steps did you take to reach that accomplishment?
I have been working on NWR since 2017, it's been three-and-a-half years of trying to get this business to a place of self-sufficiency. I have been a part of two studios before this and outgrew them both, so I had been looking for a private space since January of this year.
When COVID hit, I applied to several small business grants — I found out in May I got the grant. In June my friend was going to leave her studio and I was able to take it over. It's less about having the kiln (which is great, of course), but it's more about being able to monthly afford a space to make my work. That's the bigger achievement.
You recently spoke about wholesale and the challenges of that (versus sales through your site). How can makers keep in mind their creative process while shifting to and bigger processes (like wholesale)?
Wholesale is something I will only do very, very selectively now. It is a sacrifice to only get 50% for your work, so you have to be getting something else. Whether that's publicity or access to an untapped market. I don't wholesale everything that I make, I wholesale only the things I can afford to make.
I also only wholesale pieces I have made hundreds of times — I don't need any accidents on a deadline. The biggest thing I'll note is about when people have made a piece once and then they take on a project to make 200 of them or even 50. This scaling up is hard and often there is something wrong with that batch, I've seen it happen to so many ceramicists. That scale shift exposes some error in their process that they didn't experience when they carefully made their first piece.
What’s one thing that’s bringing you joy right now?
Eating lunch in my studio — it's the only time I really get to sit back and look at the space and really separate myself from the exhaustion and appreciate how much work it was to get here. It's calming in a moment of chaos to just understand the luxury it is to have a space like this in NYC.
Thank you for your time Sarah!
In my own work:
I recently wrote about Inglewood's Crenshaw Dairy Mart art space
I'll be speaking with artist and curator Frida Cano about Latinx design and art on 10/5 at 5pm PST on Hunker's IG live
Listen to my interview on Product Remixed, hosted by Frances Advincula, about why stories matter
Your favorite small but feisty writer,
Eva
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Books:
🎨 Luster (fiction) // Absolutely lives up to the hype. A sarcastic, heartfelt, messy story about sex and humans and families.
💛 Obit (poetry) // A tough read, I only recommend if you're in the headspace to read about grief and death. So beautifully constructed.
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Opportunities of the Month
Leica Women Foto Project Award 2020
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2020 Foundwork Artist Prize
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Miriam Gallery
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The Bennett Prize for Women Figurative Realists
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COLA Individual Artist Fellowship (LA artists)
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Quill (Queer) Prose Award
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