'Earth & Water' Series M

Lucía Ocejo was born in Mexico City. She moved to Boston to study sculpture at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design before relocating to London. Ocejo was inspired by the hand-built pots she saw on a trip to Oaxaca in 2016. It was in the Oaxacan village of Tamazulapam where Ocejo first met master potters Soila and Rufino, now working with Onora. Studying how potters in Oaxaca work and the forms they create, Ocejo became fascinated by the twin-necked vases she first encountered in the ex-convent of San Pablo in Oaxaca City. In Tamamazulapam, these vases were traditionally made using the coil method of construction by Mixe women potters and were used for wedding ceremonies. After moving to London in 2018, Ocejo became trained to work as a production potter at Crown Works Pottery. It was here that she became familiar with the British studio pottery movement of the 20th century and became profoundly inspired by the works of Hans Coper. Since then, Ocejo has been making work utilising British techniques as she continues to explore the complexities of high-fire glaze technology. For Ocejo, the Aortic series is a body of work that gives full expression to her cultural background by marrying the discipline on the potter's wheel with the freedom of form in sculpture