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Tamara Solem Alissa | Episode 1077
Tamara “Solem” Al-Issa is a Syrian/Filipina Toronto-based sculptural artist with a focus on conveying preservation of time. Solem’s work pulls from memories of the architecture and practices within SWANA and Southeast Asia through exploring familiar shapes, colours and textures from these regions. The Deep Blue series presents hand-built traditional shapes in a custom mixed cobalt blue which is a colour that evokes a familiar sense of nostalgia and wistfulness. In the SWANA region, the colour blue (particularly turquoise) is known to have mystical and protective qualities.
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What is the clay body that you use in your work?
I use a commercial clay from Tuckers pottery supply in Toronto and it’s called mid-white. So it’s pretty standard cone 6 stoneware.
Why did you choose to make your own recipe for your underglaze?
I guess I just couldn’t find the right blue. There’s so many blues but non of them fired right especially with the texture. A lot of underglazes have a lot of flux in them. Which make it shiny so I don’t really love that.
I noticed that you get a lot of press attention. Do you seek it out?
God no, not at all. I never sought out that attention. I mean obviously I am grateful to have it. Yeah, I guess they just like the blue. It’s kind of come out of the blue. (laughter)
How important is social media for you getting your work out in the world?
Yeah, so it’s just Instagram that I use but it is very important. And I wish it was less important but these days it’s kind of hard to separate art form social media. It is my portfolio so you have to stay relevant and keep up, you know, make reels and connect with my audience.
What is a shape or a piece that you are trying to master at this point?
I think it’s called a fluted shape with a really thin neck on the wheel. A big base with a really long, thin neck that you could barely put a straw through. That’s what I have been trying to perfect. Just for fun.
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Instagram: @___solem