Tere Pensel: «My respect for nature, my love for animals and my wonder at our ecosystem preexist my work»

We like artists themselves to tell us about their journey and the way they experience their artistic practice. This is the beautiful text that Tere Pensel has sent us, along with images of her pieces

“My journey in artistic creation began long before I discovered clay. It was born of a deeply affective bond with my grandmother, who taught me to knit. That experience was my first contact with craft as a language of its own, an early lesson that manual skill is a tool of expression that evolves with practice. Although today my voice finds its channel in clay, that inner need to communicate has remained constant; the only thing that has transformed over the years is the medium.

Unlike what is usually thought, my fascination with the natural environment did not arise through art, but the other way around. My respect for nature, my love for animals and my wonder at our ecosystem preexist my work. Modelling clay with my own hands came later, almost as an offering to this magnificent planet; it is my way of honouring that connection. In that process, I feel privileged to have inherited ancestral pottery techniques. My work is deeply influenced by the indigenous artists who shaped the clay of my land long before colonisation. I reclaim and adopt their techniques and their spiritual connection with the earth from a place of humility, seeking to build bridges between ancient heritage and modern expression, and bringing into the present the marvellous artistic value of the original peoples of the Americas. “

Rural Vessels Series

“In the studio, creation advances in a delicate balance between intuition and intention. While pure intuition inhabits my space as a playful territory of exploration, it only reaches the final piece after a rigorous process of professional, chemical and technical research. My artistic results are never the product of chance; they are the fruit of months of deliberate inquiry.

This rigour leads me to constantly practise an exercise in scale between the minuscule and the monumental, compelling my mind to adapt and step outside its comfort zone. In the Nido series, I restore the cracks and breaks in the clay—a hard and rough material—by weaving fine and delicate natural fibres. It is a symbolic act of internal reconstruction; the nest in nature protects, it is strong and it is home, and repairing it is my way of honouring that sanctuary. The Tapestry series, on the other hand, draws on modular pieces of barely 1×1 cm to form visual narratives that only emerge when viewed from a distance. The inspiration for these mosaics comes from my childhood, from the hours I spent alongside my sister painting on squared paper, discovering hidden patterns by colouring small squares.

At the end of the day, art is a bridge to the other. The most meaningful responses I receive are the spontaneous messages from those who observe my work and take a moment to write about the emotions it evokes in them. Those gestures of affection are the greatest gift, because they confirm that the art has resonated in another soul.

Behind the forms and textures visible in my works, there is an invisible yet vital facet of my world: a great capacity for resilience. I firmly believe in the importance of persisting and never giving up. Sometimes goals seem unattainable, but hard work and daily dedication make them real. My art, ultimately, is nothing more than the visible result of that invisible persistence.”

Raíces Series

Nido Series

Project by Tere Pensel