The Tower, 2025, Clay and terra sigillata, 2’ tall. Installation: Tower module with small vases on its top. (Image on right was when it was a work in progress.)
Untitled, 2025, Clay and terra sigillata, 3" tall.
I spoke with Olga Doutkevitch, a New Jersey–based ceramic artist, originally from Saint Petersburg, Russia, to get insight on her latest ceramic work. At NJCU, she has worked in multiple mediums such as silk, metal and enamel, but ceramics has become her main focus. She is most inspired by ancient ceramic traditions of Greece and Old Europe, seeing herself as part of a long circle of artists across time. To Olga, the surface of a ceramic vessel can serve as both a sculpture and a canvas for painting, which is why she is most fond of this medium. More recently, she has been experimenting with terra sigillata, a super refined clay slip that produces a natural sheen without the need for glaze, allowing her to excitedly explore both texture and color within her upcoming work.
To start, her most ambitious piece this year was The Tower which stands out as a surprising departure from her usual ceramic niche: miniature pottery. At roughly two feet tall, the work needed to be constructed in separate parts. She was able to incorporate her mini vessels onto the structure, making The Tower almost like a totem pole due to its hierarchy element. Olga chose to color the piece mostly like the clay-color itself, highlighting the earthy material, and contrasting with the cyan glaze which looks water-like. I found this to be a wise choice: it indeed made the work feel like an artwork from ancient history. The small pots that decorate the multiple levels of the vessel add a feeling of life to it– as if mini people are living within this tower. Although a big ceramic piece, the small pots immediately make me feel like a giant wanting to rearrange the work as if it was a dollhouse. Olga shared with me how she has an idea of creating a “village” of pots, where each tiny vessel contributes to a greater whole. Furthermore, I believe this work seeks to be a recreation of a building that is heavily inspired by historical architecture, capturing a sense of when things were mostly man-made rather than having to rely so much on heavy machinery like today. It’s refreshing to see art with so much appreciation for the past when so much of today’s art feels like it’s evolving as fast as technology.
In her next ceramic work, Untitled, she also covered it in terra sigillata instead of glaze– the vessel has a glossy, yet natural finish and is painted with abstract designs. It shows Olga’s interest in surfaces that are both visual and tactile as she intentionally wants viewers to hold and feel the clay. I find that Untitled reaffirms her specialty in creating smaller, more personal forms. I like how she described her affinity for small things as “comfort in being able to hold something in your hands.” Seeing this piece immediately made me want to feel the organic shape that makes up the rim, and the rough texture that the abstract painting seemingly creates as well.
In comparing Olga’s work to other artists, it is quite similar to that of ceramicist Edward Eberle, whom she is a fan of, in which his ceramics also treat the vessel itself as both sculpture and canvas. Like Eberle, Olga uses ceramics as a way to find a mix of utility as well as beauty in fine art, especially in a three-dimensional way. There is also an element of history that both artists include, such as in Eberle’s From Whence the Heart Arises which reminds me of the figures you’d see in Greek pottery. In Olga’s work, The Tower and Untitled, together they demonstrate that Olga’s ceramics are personal explorations of intimacy with a medium and connection with the ancient past. I believe her art does succeed as good art because it captures what she describes as the “magic of creation.” In this instance, I find her work as a visual way to invite me into history as well as a way to appreciate what can be made from the ground we walk on.
Edward Eberle, From Whence the Heart Arises, 1997, porcelain, terra sigillata, sgrafitto decoration.
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