The ceramic tells by Paco Orti - Soul. Hands. Clay.

Stop, close your eyes, imagine and listen to the continuous and beautiful sound made by bare hands, on the wet clay, running on the potter’s wheel.

Just memories, in a chaotic and fanatical new era, where everything escapes. Memories are able to bring back ancient traditions on your mind.

Paco Orti, a young architect from Valencia, in his little workshop on the sea, believes - and, above all, convinces us - that the "hand is instrument of our soul”, thus creating a romantic and evocative work. He works the clay without any intention, 'just to be happy'.

The rays of the light and the beautiful view of the sea: these are the simple elements which inspire him every day.

Shapes, patterns and unusual finishing surface: Paco Orti tells us about his fascinating work.

Why have you used such a traditional material like clay? How did you manage to transform a traditional material into something really contemporary?

I think the really important is the way materials are worked. I am not interested in working them in an orthodoxy way. I attempt to extract expressiveness from them.

Materials don't understand if they are traditional or not, we grant them a meaning. I try to enjoy working. This is my main objective.

Shapes and patterns are apparently random. How much technique there is in your work?

I experiment with each piece. This is the cause of diversity. In general, I am not very interested in repeating the processes or techniques.

Your work is a tribute to craftsmanship. In your opinion today, in an era in which technology strongly affects the production, which value do you give to the manual labor?

I can answer this with a Thomas Moore´s quote: "Working with hands also meets a need of the soul in a way that no machine, no matter how complex, can be achieved."

Armours, curious and fascinating 'object'. How did? How was it born?

I had the necessity of protecting myself with ceramics. Actually, it is a metaphor. Some animal species have exoskeleton: an external continuous skeleton covering their body, protecting them.

Instead, human beings are born without any external protection, absolutely helpless and defenseless. This piece reflects on our degree of vulnerability. It is an artificial human exoskeleton. A rigid piece that, being resolved in ceramics, is humanly fragile itself.