works
bio
works
bio
Tina Vlassopulos’s latest body of work, “Shaping Silence” explores the illusion of sound by intertwining the transient qualities of the audible with the silence and permanence of the material.
Although the work seems to draw ideas from nature, it is the performing arts, which inspire her. Vlassopulos is focusing on a sense of movement, poise and harmony in each individual piece. She enjoys exploring new designs and ideas and pushing the clay to its limits.
Her forms are hand built using colored clays which she mixes using stains and oxides. This produces a palette of elegant, soft colors. Tina then refines and scrapes the form to achieve a smooth surface. Finally the piece is meticulously burnished using a variety of metal spoons and smooth pebbles.
Often, the work is grouped together, activating the spaces between the individual pieces and producing a synergy between the elements, thus forming a visual rhythm.
The vessels are made with an eye to the possibility of function, but this is balanced by a sculptural context and the concept of a container carries only an aesthetic and symbolic value.
Tina’s work is represented in several public collections, and she won international awards. An essay about her work is due to be published in September 2022 in The Vessel In Contemporary Ceramics by Ashley Thorpe.
Tina Vlassopulos was born in London in 1954. After graduating from Bristol Polytechnic in 1977, she returned to London to set up her studio.