catalin filip was born in romania in 1989 and has lived in the uk since 2014. he comes from architecture and taught himself ceramics, and works with clay by trial and error, developing his own techniques for the forms he has in mind.
his lamps and objects start from what raw clay does on its own under gravity. he bends, pulls and stretches the material until it turns into a stone-like finished form; on the ribbed pieces he takes it close to collapse and dries it quickly, so the movement of the wet clay stays in the piece. traces of the making are meant to remain visible.
the pieces with us are made by hand in his studio, in black vulcan stoneware, white stoneware and red terracotta: the melo lights, folded by gravity, the ribbed rakis series, the strapped knotto lamps, the 'taburet' stool, after the furniture in his grandmother's house, and sculptures and vessels from 'movement phase 1' to 'morform'. every piece is made to order.
his work has been shown at the british ceramics biennale in stoke-on-trent, at the london design festival with mint gallery, at ceramic art london, at romanian design week in bucharest, in athens and in guadalajara, mexico.
