Ceramic art (or pottery) marks ages and millennia.
Ceramic art is lost in prehistoric times, flourishing during Greek antiquity in an inspired exuberance of shapes, colors, and forms. Storage jars, amphorae, kraters, jugs, and lekythos reflect the daily habits and traditions of the society. Pottery represents the numerous objects of the same category found in any archaeological excavation.
In the modern era, new morphological and technical characteristics have been added to ceramic art in the manufacture of ceramics. Clay jars helped to store the crop. Pitchers and flasks were used for liquids and pots and cooking dishes as tableware.
Their forms were simple, but the decorative touch – the exclusive mission of the craftsmen’s wives – stamped the handmade items with grace and sensitivity. Decorative designs such as stripes, coils, lines, flowers, leaves, fish, birds, and ships elevate the humble clay to the level of pure folk art.
The most recent glory days of Greek ceramic art have been spent on the mainland (Macedonia, Peloponnese, Thrace, Attica) and on many islands (Thassos, Lesvos, Samos, Crete, Skyros, Aegina, Rhodes, Sifnos). Age-old tradition and inherited knowledge have never ceased to guide the hands, imagination, and art of clay modelers.
Ceramic art is an escape from the real world of mass production and consumerism
Ceramics is an ancient art form that dates back to the Neolithic period. Almost every ancient culture practiced it in some form, using different techniques and methods to achieve a work of art that has a symbolic function. But why do people still love pottery today even after all these years?
People love Ceramic because it is an escape from the real world of mass production and consumerism. It is the search for a sense of nostalgia while simultaneously creating something beautiful with your hands and a form of expression that grounds you in the present.
Ceramics is more than just working with wet clay – it involves many other processes that make it even more appealing – from shaping to create a useful object and painting to letting your imagination run free to create a work of art art.
Source: Visit Greece