Claire Ellis Ceramics
Blending the organic materiality of clay with recycled plastic and glass, Claire Ellis Ceramics centres on sustainability, offering second life to her materials.
Words: Emma-Kate Wilson | Photography: Annika Kafcaloudis
‘My sister, who’s an art teacher, told me how meditative she found wheel-throwing, and it sounded like a good way to balance out some of the stress from working in kitchens,’ says Claire Ellis. Photo: Annika Kafcaloudis
‘I discovered clay through wheel-throwing classes that I started taking on my days off four years ago,’ says Claire Ellis. Photo: Annika Kafcaloudis
‘Turning my focus to working on sustainability in ceramics has helped me find an outlet and make decisions,’ says Claire Ellis. Photo: Annika Kafcaloudis
Solace Containers by Claire Ellis Ceramics lined up on the studio shelves. Photo: Annika Kafcaloudis
Naarm-based Claire Ellis Ceramics invites the waste from the studio into her minimalist ceramic containers. The textural is highlighted and explored through recycled materials while bringing the homemade to the table following her experiences as a chef.
After suffering PTSD from her experiences in the kitchen, Canadian-born ceramicist Claire Ellis decided to try exploring clay on the advice of her sister, finding peace and meditative practice. ‘I discovered clay through wheel-throwing classes that I started taking on my days off four years ago,’ Claire says. ‘I have always loved tableware, and I wanted to make my own.’
The materiality inspires Claire’s containers — the eggshells and glass bottles from her time in restaurants and the clay bags from local ceramics studios. She wanted to create something that used the waste she saw around her, giving them a much longer second life.
‘I wanted to design work that could be made using all the waste materials I had been experimenting with — the containers are the outcome of working around the limitations of each material while trying to highlight their uniqueness,’ Claire adds.
She continues, ‘I use eggshells as the source of calcium in my glazes and recycled glass bottles to decorate the inside of the Solace Containers. One of the waste streams in my practice is failed and broken ceramics which I use by crushing into grog that is used in my clocks.’
‘The Solace Containers [are] the combination of all my little innovation wins over the past two years. It’s exciting to put together my experiments like pieces of a puzzle,’ says Claire Ellis. Photo: Annika Kafcaloudis
“I ended up switching careers because of mental health; I was diagnosed with PTSD from some of the kitchens I worked in. I needed to make a change and really enjoyed having to slow down with ceramics while still being creative and working with my hands.”
‘The containers are the outcome of working around the limitations of each material while trying to highlight their uniqueness,’ says Claire Ellis. Photo: Annika Kafcaloudis
‘To mend broken or chipped ceramics, I offer golden repairs using the traditional Kintsugi process and materials sourced from a female-owned Japanese supplier,’ says Claire Ellis. Photo: Annika Kafcaloudis
Guided by the circular economy principles, Claire Ellis’ aim is to keep objects and their materials in use so they can be enjoyed as long as possible and also avoid contributing to landfill. Photo: Annika Kafcaloudis
Claire Ellis Ceramics lined up on the studio shelves. Photo: Annika Kafcaloudis
By using waste, it also allows the ceramicist to redirect some of her anxieties about the climate crisis. As such, sustainability is high on the priorities. Claire Ellis Ceramics is registered as a 1% For The Planet Member, donating 1% of annual revenue to environmental non-profits.
Alongside this, Claire also employs the magic process of Traditional Kintsugi—repairing broken ceramics with gold. Utilising materials sourced by a female-owned Japanese supplier, such as sabi-urushi (tonoko clay, water and tree resin), eurushi (red tree resin), and real gold powder, inside ancient technologies, the muro (a humid curing box), the process takes 17 days. A testament to aesthetics, craft, repair, and reduce.
With only a few years of experience, Claire’s work has already been seen at Craft Victoria’s Craft Contemporary Festival 2021, Melbourne Design Week 2022, Paris Design Week, and Milan Design Week 2022. But it’s her innovative use of materials that sounds the most exciting.
‘I’ve developed a few different clay bodies out of ceramic sink trap waste and crushed failed ceramics — two of the most abundant waste materials in ceramics studios,’ she concludes. ‘I’m working on some exciting collaborations and new containers made using these materials in place of commercial clay.’
