Figurative Ceramicist | Anastassia Zamaraeva | Episode 725

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Anastassia Zamaraeva | Episode 725

Anastassia Zamaraeva is a ceramic artist based in Manchester, UK. Anastassia’s work is mainly figurative and centered around story telling and an exploration of our inner worlds. Some pieces are melancholy, some are silly, and others are creepy.

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When a piece is sold do you then have a special connection to the purchaser?

I think with some people I do. When I know more about where the piece has gone, because there are some people who I have built up a relationship with who buy from me quite regularly and I engage with them outside of that process of buying something from me. So with them I do feel a connection and sometimes I think about where my work has ended up in all the different corners of the world and that feels like it ties me to these different places that I have never been. And it’s like little parts of me, little parts of my soul are scattered all over the planet. Yeah, it is an amazing feeling.

Do you have a map of the world that you kind of keep track of and have little pins on the map or is it just a mental pinning of the map?

It’s a mental pinning but I always wanted a physical map. I am not organized enough to do it. I do hope one day I will make myself the time to get a proper map and start pinning but I have already forgotten where so many of the pieces have gone that I feel like there is a lot of backlog….a lot of admin basically, I don’t like admin.

Do you ever have a hard time releasing a piece out into the world?

In terms of selling it or just in terms of posting it? They are two different things.

They are two different things so let’s talk about both of them. Do you ever have a hard time in terms of just posting it and letting the world see an inner piece of yourself that is hard to express?

There are some things that I don’t post on Instagram. There are some things I don’t post on Instagram but I will post on Patreon. My Patreon tends to be for work in progress as well as the things that I feel like are a bit too personal to share with all the thousands of people that are going to see it when I post it on Instagram. So most of my things I will post but because, like I mentioned before with my art therapy work there are things that I work on where clay is very much actively used as therapy, which I usually don’t feel comfortable sharing with a big audience.

And in terms of releasing into the world in selling, yeah, I have made the mistake in the past of selling things too fast. So what I do now is if I feel a particular attachment to a piece I am going to keep it and maybe live with it for a few months or maybe a few weeks, but usually a few months. And once it has maybe reabsorbed back into me, because it is almost like when I have made something I can place it outside of myself  and see part of myself externally and when I have had enough of seeing that,  I do feel like I can let it go and I can let it out into the world

What is one of your favorite responses that you have heard back from somebody?

There’s been some good ones…there has definitely been the kinds of responses that I read them or I hear them and straight away I think this is exactly what I do and exactly why I do it. But none of them are really accessible in my memory. The thing that I do get and I appreciate is when people comment saying something is creepy or it makes them feel uneasy, but they like it , because I think that is very much where a lot of my work lands and I enjoy that sense of making people a little bit uncomfortable, but in a good way.

Do you have any creativity cues that helps you to get into the creative mode? Like someone will put on an apron as a cue to get creative.

I should probably have a bit  more separation in my life, honestly, but the creativity and the clay and the art making, it bleeds into everything. Every waking moment and sleeping moments as well. So I don’t really have what I would call cues but if I do really want to get ideas flowing I will sit down with a sketchbook and something in my ears. So either a podcast or some music and what I like to do is draw without any pressure. So I don’t draw with the intention of, I am going to come up with ideas for pieces. I start by doodling and see where it takes me.

What podcasts do you like to listen to when you put your headphones on?

So recently I am very much into Synisterhood. They cover true crime and also supernatural, is it paranormal? Paranormal is the word, isn’t it? Paranormal things and they are two comedians based in Texas and I really enjoy their vibe. It is a combination of  funny, empathetic, and intelligent. Yeah, that’s my favorite podcast.

Book

See What You Made Me Do by Jess Hill 

Contact

azamaceramics.co.uk

Instagram: @a_zama_ceramics