Meeting + interview with Eugénie from Atelier Tskumogami
Brutal. went to meet the ceramist Eugénie from Atelier Tsukumogami in her studio in Montreuil. Let's discover his universe through an interview.
What is your background and your training to get to ceramics?
My arrival in ceramics is the result of a reconversion. Before, I was a video game designer. It was while reading a Japanese novel that I felt a visceral call from the earth. In the process, I left everything to embark on this creative adventure.
Are you self-taught or did you learn from someone else?
I have an eternal thirst for learning, I absorb everything I find as much as possible before embarking on a project. Thus, I made the choice to learn the trade in a workshop-school for 1 year and to pass the CAP filming at the end.
I was more self-taught for kintsugi (Japanese ceramic repair technique that magnifies breakage scars instead of hiding them) which is the second facet of my job. I started alone then solidified my knowledge with a kintsugi master to be able to professionalize myself.
Do you remember your first play?
A small shaped bowl, a bit chaotic. I use it daily and it's my favorite piece. It is linked to a very strong emotion that I discovered within me during this first contact with the earth.
How would you define your job?
Spontaneous. I like to play with the personality of the material. She has as many things to express as I do, and I agree to let myself be guided by her despite the rendering that I can imagine beforehand. We work hand in hand, for better and sometimes for worse!
What is your creative and manufacturing process?
I am inspired by the natural landscapes that have particularly marked me during my frequent trips to Japan: atmosphere, colors, textures, emotion that they have aroused in me... I make sure to bring them to life through the object that I shape.
What is your favorite technique? Your favorite moment in the process?
What I like above all is the enamel and the play of colors. Soaking the ceramics in this mixture leaves nothing to predict the final result, and there are always surprises when you open the oven. A certain result would bore me deeply!
What is your favorite material? What do you like about him?
Speckled sandstone, with a rustic and resistant appearance. It doesn't need anything to dress a table!
What inspires you outside of ceramics?
A ray of light that gives a different perception of an object, a range of colors and textures, it doesn't matter as long as it's something I perceive in a natural and wild environment.
Can you tell us about one or more books on ceramics or something else?
I can only talk about "The colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his years of pilgrimage" in which, in just a few lines, Haruki Murakami describes with powerful words the work and the place of life of a couple of ceramists. It is this book that is at the origin of my reconversion!
What are your last significant trips or your travel desires?
I'm so in love with Japan that I can't travel anywhere else. But now I want to focus on the marvelous landscapes that France abounds with.
