Mansie Shah

Ceramic Artist , India
mansie131@gmail.com

  • Mansie Shah Ceramic Artist , India For sales inquiry contact mansie131@gmail.com

    In the last year and a half, we’ve experienced uncertainty at an unprecedented level with the pandemic threatening spaces outside our control. This differentiation of space between the inside and the outside has assumed a unique importance in these challenging times.
    However, negotiating boundaries is something that we always do. Whether these are the physical boundaries between the comfort zone of our home and the risky adventures awaiting outside, the shifting boundaries between ‘my’ space and ‘your’ space or even self-referential boundaries between I- the actor and I – the observer.
    We reside in many of these contesting spaces and perhaps, can even contend that respite from one lies in the other. But how is one to negotiate these spaces? This is at the core of my practice as an artist to explore ideas of movement, flow.
    Movement is in the churning, in the agitating and amidst that we keep looking for stability, certainty and balance. My artistic practice is informed and shaped by the idea that this elusive balance is not the balance we associate with the tranquil stillness of a sage, standing on one foot for days on an end, through abstinence and cramped muscles, through sun and rain, but a dynamic balance of a trapeze artist in constant dialogue with balance and imbalance, moving from one end of the tightrope to the other. Movement is key to negotiating spaces inside-outside.
    Working with a vastly malleable material such as clay, the primary focus of my practice has been on the form wherein I think about how to bring in the visual qualities that emulate movement, fluidity, balance. Water, a medium in motion that is boundary-agnostic, has been an inspiration for my work. Line, whether is it the line of the form itself or the surface treatment of the form, is an integral focal point of the work as well.
    Process wise, while working with clay, the hand-memory takes over and I’m discovering the form as it is shaping up, a dance between intuitive and cultivated instincts. All of my work is hand built and for the surface treatment, I use methods such as sgraffito, wax resist, carving and painting with underglazes on bisqueware.


    • Title
      Energy Fields
    • Year
      2019
    • Dimensions
      Floor installation - Variable (40x11x4inches)
    • Material
      Porcelain and stoneware with underglaze and glaze
    • Firing Technique
      Cone 6, Electric Firing

    • Title
      Movement II
    • Year
      2019
    • Dimensions
      11.5x5x5 inches
    • Material
      Stoneware with glaze
    • Firing Technique
      Cone 6, Electric Firing

    • Title
      Tidal wave I
    • Year
      2021
    • Dimensions
      6x6x3.5 inches
    • Material
      Stoneware with glaze
    • Firing Technique
      Cone 6, Electric Firing

    • Title
      Tidal wave I
    • Year
      2021
    • Dimensions
      6x6x3.5 inches
    • Material
      Stoneware with glaze
    • Firing Technique
      Cone 6, Electric Firing

In the last year and a half, we’ve experienced uncertainty at an unprecedented level with the pandemic threatening spaces outside our control. This differentiation of space between the inside and the outside has assumed a unique importance in these challenging times.
However, negotiating boundaries is something that we always do. Whether these are the physical boundaries between the comfort zone of our home and the risky adventures awaiting outside, the shifting boundaries between ‘my’ space and ‘your’ space or even self-referential boundaries between I- the actor and I – the observer.
We reside in many of these contesting spaces and perhaps, can even contend that respite from one lies in the other. But how is one to negotiate these spaces? This is at the core of my practice as an artist to explore ideas of movement, flow.
Movement is in the churning, in the agitating and amidst that we keep looking for stability, certainty and balance. My artistic practice is informed and shaped by the idea that this elusive balance is not the balance we associate with the tranquil stillness of a sage, standing on one foot for days on an end, through abstinence and cramped muscles, through sun and rain, but a dynamic balance of a trapeze artist in constant dialogue with balance and imbalance, moving from one end of the tightrope to the other. Movement is key to negotiating spaces inside-outside.
Working with a vastly malleable material such as clay, the primary focus of my practice has been on the form wherein I think about how to bring in the visual qualities that emulate movement, fluidity, balance. Water, a medium in motion that is boundary-agnostic, has been an inspiration for my work. Line, whether is it the line of the form itself or the surface treatment of the form, is an integral focal point of the work as well.
Process wise, while working with clay, the hand-memory takes over and I’m discovering the form as it is shaping up, a dance between intuitive and cultivated instincts. All of my work is hand built and for the surface treatment, I use methods such as sgraffito, wax resist, carving and painting with underglazes on bisqueware.


My Work


For sales inquiry contact mansie131@gmail.com

  • Title
    Energy Fields
  • Year
    2019
  • Dimensions
    Floor installation - Variable (40x11x4inches)
  • Material
    Porcelain and stoneware with underglaze and glaze
  • Firing Technique
    Cone 6, Electric Firing
  • Title
    Movement II
  • Year
    2019
  • Dimensions
    11.5x5x5 inches
  • Material
    Stoneware with glaze
  • Firing Technique
    Cone 6, Electric Firing
  • Title
    Tidal wave I
  • Year
    2021
  • Dimensions
    6x6x3.5 inches
  • Material
    Stoneware with glaze
  • Firing Technique
    Cone 6, Electric Firing
  • Title
    Tidal wave I
  • Year
    2021
  • Dimensions
    6x6x3.5 inches
  • Material
    Stoneware with glaze
  • Firing Technique
    Cone 6, Electric Firing

For sales inquiry contact mansie131@gmail.com

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