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Overview
Reesha is an artisan potter from the Maldives based in Bristol working under the
name RZubair Ceramics. She has been doing pottery for over five years, starting
her journey with a six-month internship in a gallery/pottery studio in Oxford in
2017.
“I make small batches of wheel thrown & handmade functional & decorative
pottery from my studio in Bristol. Pieces vary from stand-alone art to more
functional tableware. My inspiration is my native home of the Maldives: the
beach, sea, nature and people influence my work and this can be seen in the
shapes and the glaze colours I use. My recent hand-built work is informed by my
relationships with women who have impacted and made an impression in my
life. These impressions are expressed through the forms, hues and texture, both
in the making process as well as in the finish of vessels.“
“SHAREEFA and HAWWA vessels are named after and inspired by my paternal
and maternal grandmothers respectively. These vessels are hand built using slab
and coiling method, SHAREEFA vessels with coarse black stoneware clay and
HAWWA vessels using a stoneware speckled clay. Once the forms are
constructed, I make marks and create texture on the surfaces of vessels, and then
either leave the clay raw or decorate with slip and/or oxides before firing. The
vessels are unglazed: the slip/oxide decoration and their reaction to the clay and
the texture give the vessels their distinctive character. These pots are handmade,
and therefore, no two pots are identical.