She studied Fine Arts at university, where she first encountered ceramics. But it wasn’t until nine years ago that she began experimenting, first with porcelain, then with clay, to create organic sculptures, strangely beautiful, as if they had emerged directly from the earth. “I discovered that the collective Gasworks NYC had its studio right across the street from my home, so I joined. It’s wonderful to be part of a creative community,” she explains.

Tania Whalen has found her true voice in clay: a wordless voice that speaks through stillness. Her work doesn’t seek perfection, but truth. “My work celebrates the natural identity of clay, highlighting its textures and organic forms through gesture—just as wind, water and sand shape the earth, my surfaces convey movement and depth. I’m inspired by nature, architecture, art and music, and I collect notes on striking everyday silhouettes to reimagine them in clay,” says Tania.

More than objects, her pieces are miniature landscapes, emotional topographies. There is something ritual, almost sacred, in them. Tania works not only with clay, but with time: the time of the wheel, the drying, the fire. “Ceramics forces me to listen,” she once said in an interview. To listen to internal rhythms, to fertile accidents, to the resistance of matter.

Her creative philosophy rejects the haste of the market and aligns with a notion of beauty deeply rooted in sustainability, in respect for artisanal processes, and in a way of life that is mindful and attentive. In a world inclined towards speed and surface, her work is an act of quiet resistance.

At Exágono, we celebrate artists who create with purpose—who offer visual and tactile sanctuaries, and who remind us of the enduring value of the handmade. Tania Whalen is, without doubt, one of these essential creators. Her pieces are not just ceramics: they are gestures suspended in time, fragments of an eternal dialogue between humankind and the earth.

Tania Whalen
gtaniawhalen@gmail.com
www.taniawhalenceramics.com
@taniawhalenceramics

His connection with ceramics began a few years earlier in a well-known pottery workshop-coworking space in London, where he took several courses and taught himself. Back in Catalonia, he continued his professional training at L’Escola de Ceràmica la Bisbal de l’Empordà, a town with a long history and tradition of pottery, and at the Ramon Fort School, where he learned from the great masters of his homeland.

Intuition and exploration are key aspects of her practice. Jordina feeds her imaginary of ideas through nature and the resources of her land that lead her to develop unique designs. Fascinated by shapes, corporeality, textures and natural tones, her work seeks to highlight the simplicity and nakedness of the pieces by leaving them unglazed or partially glazed, highlighting the texture and colour of the fired clay to appreciate the essence of the natural and the organic.

Each piece is created by hand with delicacy and effort, respecting the process and time needed for its development. His pieces have singularities and variations that reflect the craftsmanship behind the creation process, giving each piece a unique essence. He works with various techniques, but the most prized is churro modelling. Little by little and churro by churro, the piece is constructed, a practice that allows her to achieve perfectly imperfect organic forms with a very marked manual stroke. Captivated by the corporeal, this is for her the most grateful technique with the greatest freedom of expression.

The aim of his work is to bring beauty and harmony to spaces, seeking a balance between artistic expression and the functionality of the object. He collaborates with galleries such as Llop Madrid or Kave Gallery to present his work, and works with professionals in the design, architecture and interior design sectors, carrying out customised projects.

Collaboration is very present in his practice, each partnership is a new opportunity to create something unique or to innovate an existing concept. He has recently started a collaboration with the French fashion brand Sessùn, known for its savoir-faire and love for craftsmanship, where we will soon be able to find his pieces in some shops. She is also currently working on two exhibition projects, which will come to light during the first months of 2025, at the Design Festival in Madrid and in L’Empordà, where she will exhibit her work together with other artists.

Her passion for design and art, as well as her admiration for gastronomy, have also led her to connect these two worlds and work with clients in the hotel and catering sector to create exclusive collections of tableware and decorative pieces for their establishments, such as the Hotel Palau Fugit and the Can Xapes Restaurant in Girona.

Jorceramics is gradually gaining recognition as an artistic project. At Revista Exágono we like to support talented young people. Jordina has us fascinated by the delicacy of her art that she shows in all her pieces.

If you would like to know more about her and her work, you can do so by visiting the website, with an online shop that she has just published.

Photos: Mònica Casas, Bel Gestí, Laura Pujolàs.
Text: Jordina Ferrando.

Jordina Ferrando

In Banyoles (Girona), her homeland, the artist Jordina Ferrando aims to express through design and ceramics the love for the territory and the essence that the Mediterranean offers. With the desire to connect with a more genuine way of life, she feeds her imaginary ideas through her commitment to her environment and its natural resources. He is fascinated by shapes, corporeality, textures and colours, essentially the constant search for beauty in the simplicity of things that leads him to explore new ideas and unique designs.

Intuition, organicity and creative freedom are essential in his practice, from the inspiration phase to the realisation phase. His work focuses on the responsible production of unique sculptural and decorative pieces, as well as limited edition tableware. Everything is handmade with care, delicacy and effort in his workshop, respecting the process and time necessary for the creation of each piece. The objects present singularities and variations as a result of the manual work involved in the elaboration process, which gives a unique essence to each work of art.

His intention is to bring authenticity and aesthetic harmony to spaces, seeking a balance between artistic expression and the functionality of the object. His work can be found in design and fine craft galleries such as Llop in Madrid and Gla in Empordà, as well as online platforms such as Único Gallery and Kave Gallery. His work has also appeared in lifestyle, design and architecture media such as AD España, El País Semanal magazine and Arquitectura y Diseño.

His love of art and design coexists with his admiration for gastronomy, and ceramics is the medium through which he connects both passions. He has collaborated with award-winning establishments such as the Palau Fugit Boutique Hotel and Can Xapes Restaurant, both in the counties of Girona, to create bespoke tableware.