Anna Martí Ribes, the Valencian ceramicist who creates beautiful, unforgettable pieces

When we met Anna Martí Ribes, we asked her to tell us about her work as a ceramist, which we like so much, and this is the text she sent us, together with a selection of her beautiful pieces built with so much love and passion:

“I have a small workshop in Valencia. I have built my own wood-fired kiln, which I am proud of. I like functional ceramics and the beauty of useful things that accompany us every day. That’s why I started to focus on plates, bowls, yunomis and tea ware. From there I moved on to oriental glazes and reductions.

A good ceramic piece can be something small, but I want it to be an unforgettable object for those who buy it. In each batch I look for those pieces that make you fall in love.

I have always been attracted to black on white, the black ink stain on paper. I like minimalism, but also graffiti or a comic strip.

I am a fan of Gutte Eriksen, Gertrud Vasegaard, Lucie Rie, Suzanne Ramié. I currently admire the pieces of  Elena Renker,  Lisa Hammond and Monona Álvarez. I like the ceramic interpretation of things by Genesis Belanger and I am inspired by the work of Louise Nevelson even if I am not a ceramist.

I enjoy the work of Kawai Kangiro, Bernard Leach, Shoji Hamada,  Llorens Artigas, Shozo Michikawa, Gustavo Pérez, José Antonio Sarmiento, Ángel Garraza, Rafa Pérez,  Icaro Maiterena, Miguel Molet and others.

In 2019, before the pandemic, I was in Japan and visited Mashico, the Shoji Hamada memorial and also the house of the Japanese ceramicist Kawai Kanjiro and the Raku museum, which are real sanctuaries for us ceramicists.

In September, I exhibited at the Museo de la Rajoleria de Paiporta which has an old 12-door Hoffman kiln with its monumental chimney. The director of the museum, Eva Sanz, took care of my pieces during the dana and I was able to recover them, but the ground floor of the museum was flooded and they have lost a lot of collections.

For the last three years, together with Ximo Navarro, we have been organising an annual Ceramics Festival in La Pobleta de Alcolea, near Morella, in which we give demonstrations on the potter’s wheel and raku and the whole village collaborates in the festival.

A few customers come to my workshop to buy, but I sell almost everything on Instagram. I have sold pieces in Japan, Australia, Canada, USA, Sweden. I also have a good relationship with Tado Madrid.”

Project by Anna Martí Ribes