Our featured Artist Member for November is Vallari Harshwal.
Vallari Harshwal Studio specialises in designing and hand making ceramic tableware, homeware and lights. Handcrafting timeless and simple objects which stand the test of time brings her joy.
She enjoys a design ethos steeped in an essence of Indian heritage juxtaposed with her life in England. Vallari is drawn towards the quiet and unexplored aspect of clay as a material and its processes.
My work is a reflection of lived experiences, keen observation of nature’s open secret and material explorations. These lived experiences or meories take a narrative form and become stories in my designs. Born in India, I regularly draw inspiration from my heritage, often times capturing subtle quirky nuances of life which are missed or unseen to the world. Another aspect that feeds into my designs is observing the subtle and gentle rhythm of nature, around me which in turn becomes a recurring visual element in my designs. The shifting landscape of nature through the changing seasons, the probing of processes and movement in natural surrounding is my all time muse. These wide spectrum inspiration offers a lot to work with and the inspiration as such also shifts and
grows as my practise develops and creative mind expands. “How do I share with the world what I observe and feel” is my constant quest.
My studio is based in a countryside location in Henley-on-Thames region, on the outskirts of Reading.
Housed in an old Coach House, the studio overlooks beautiful orchards, surrounded by woodlands. My space has double height ceiling as it is a converted courtyard area of what must have been parking space for horse The studio has chunky wood beams, exposed bricks from original building and glass frontage.
I get to observe the changing seasons of nature from my studio front.
Now this is a difficult question to answer. In some aspect, I believe my favourite piece is yet to be made. But I can say this- in the sense of crafting a piece- then my favourite design is always these very large platters from my Gulmohar collection. These are one off pieces, and I enjoy the process of creating Sgrafitto over a period of 3-4 days depening on how fine I want to make the surface design. I love to watch expressions on onlookers face when they find out each tiny leaf is engraved by hand and not a leaf imprint!
I come from a family of generations of artists, designers, architects and film makers. My grandfather, a renowned artist of his time in India has been my biggest influence. Growing up, my life was surrounded with smells of oil paints, brushes, large canvases and paintings.
My elder sisters would always be exploring design in craft to try out exciting creative outcomes, and my parents home was filled with beautiful traditional textiles and objects. Looking back, I realised these were the years which informed and influcenced my creative developement.
In terms of inspiration- I am drawn towards the visual delights of Hayao Miyazaki’s simple, effective and elegant aesthetics. As I research more into his journey, the more I realise- its difficult to create simplicity in a fast paced world today. His work inspires me and informs the visual aesthetics of my design. Simple, almost minimal yet intricately crafted with an aim to refine my skills at every step.
A collection of Vallari Harshwals work is available to purchase in the gallery