Women in Business Featuring Raku Elements by Nadya Anne MangionĀ
Meet Nadya Anne Mangion
Founder of Raku Elements
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Who am I? Do we really know ourselves? Is the perception others have of ourselves, that which we really are? So, here goes! I am Nadya Anne Mangion, a January 1967 baby, an Aquarian, with an overall positive disposition and a sense of humour not everybody gets. Iām married, have no children, but a very happy aunt to seven, and a godmother to a few more.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā These few words have categorized me and settled the initial pointers of this interview. However, here goes ā¦.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā My parents were never too keen on me following my heartās desires way back in the 70s. So, I had to do well in school to be able to follow a more conservative career later on in life. I read for a bachelorās degree in physics and chemistry and worked as a teacher of physics and general science in a few secondary schools for 22 years.Ā
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Teaching is a very demanding profession, leaving very little time and energy to pursue personal activities. So, 17 years ago I decided I needed time to myself to regenerate for my sanityās sake. I started working as a secondary school sciences laboratory technician. This gave me the perfect work-life balance I craved, leaving me with the necessary time I needed to develop my creativity.
The Start of my Journey...
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā When quite young, I had started going to Saturday morning art lessons. I continued through my secondary years at school. Drawing and painting, experimenting with the various media and techniques. I stopped briefly during my sixth form years but started again moving on to the Malta School of Art for about four years. Here I experienced an artistic education in its proper academic setting, taught by established artists experts in their respective fields. Although these were crucial years for my artistic development, I always felt that there was something still missing.Ā
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā The turning point occurred when I applied for a pottery throwing course at the MCAST Institute for the Creative Arts.Ā That moment when I touched clay for the first time was a revelation, it was a feeling I will never forget. In an instant the missing puzzle pieces fell into place. In the two years there, I came to realise that sculpture was my niche rather than throwing on a pottery wheel. This allowed me a wider freedom of expression with the clay medium.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā I continued to attend ceramics evening courses at the same institute for a further 4 years, developing my skills and trying out different techniques. During this time, I came to realise that I needed my own set-up if I wanted to go ahead. I bought my own kiln and started importing my own clay and raw materials to develop a palette of glazes that worked for me and for the firing methods I use.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā I also attended courses in Croatia, Italy and Belgium to gain knowledge and acquaint myself with different techniques, meet other ceramicists from different backgrounds and broaden my understanding.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā I hand build all my ceramic sculptures using clay specific to the firing processes I use. When possible, I prefer to work barefooted as I find the grounding effect quite calming and soothing, this process becoming therapeutic to me.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā I instinctively find myself creating pots/vessels which tend to be quite organic in form, biomorphic. Pots /vessels are some of the very earliest artefacts created. The span of our cultures can be traced through bowls, vases, beakers, pots. Their surfaces show markings that reveal the hand of the potter that created them.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Along the years I have taken part in several collective exhibitions both locally and abroad. Seven years ago, I was encouraged to take the plunge and work towards my first solo exhibition. Singularity was launched in September 2019. I realised that my work was being followed and appreciated. There are very few contemporary female ceramicists locally, and my work is rather particular.Ā
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā In September 2022 I attended the ArgillĆ Ceramics Biennial in Faenza Italy for the first time. This is a ceramics event which brings together ceramicists and interested parties from all over the world. The whole town is geared for this event, open workshops, exhibitions, presentations, demonstrations, markets, a fantastic buzz of ceramic activity!
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā I participated in a juried ceramic firing competition. I had three hours to glaze and fire a ceramic sculpture which I had brought with me from Malta. It was a challenging yet comic situation having to take up a bunch of glaze ingredients in powder format, mostly white, through airport security; Ā to be able to work on site. It didnāt help either being swabbed for explosives residue at security check! Anyway, relief was great when I found out that I had placed second in the competition! This result validates my efforts to keep trying new techniques and improving the skills gained so far.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā On a more sobering note, it has been heart-breaking watching the results of the floods in central Italy over the past few months. Faenza was one of the towns that were completely devastated. New friends made there had to start from scratch, having lost everything in their homes and workshops.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā June 2023 saw the launch of my second solo exhibition Pots. As the name implies, it was a collection of about 30 vessels ranging from 20cm to 60 cm in height. As my curator described āthey are surprisingly colourful with glazes drawing influence from the local seascape. They are wonderfully tactile, their rounded shapes, slender bodies, impressed surfaces, cracked glazes and luminous colouring enticing the viewer to closer inspection.ā
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā The exhibition ran throughout June 2023 at the Malta Postal Museum & Arts Hub in Valletta. During the days I was present I met up with friends I hadnāt seen in years some as far back as my sixth form days, as well as new peop;e interested in ceramics or who were interested to know more about my creations. It was very encouraging and surprising to discover that I was being followed through my social media pages and somehow making an impact on whoever had come to visit.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā A good number of my pots have found their home in private collections both locally and abroad. It is always with a sense of loss that I let go of my pots. The process of creating my pots is quite personal and at times exhausting when one considers all that is required physically and psychologically. Thus, parting with a pot is a very emotional experience for me.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā When I first started out in ceramics, I had this feeling of arriving somehow ālateā. I try to reason out, being the eternal optimist; that had I been much younger I would not have been able to pursue along this path in the way that I have done. Being older with a bigger baggage of experiences and somewhat more financially stable allowed me to channel all this into what I now make. I consider life as a very complex journey, every step a stage of discovery and a learning process. The ending point of the journey is not important, as we never know when we will have arrived. Ā It is up to us to gain from each stage and savour the joy or other that is around every corner, coming away and proceeding with a wealth of experience no artificial intelligence can ever have!
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā I hope these few words may be inspiring to someone and help them along on their own life journey. I must also thank you for taking the time to read through this interview and am grateful to Donna for allowing me to share my life journey with you.
Contact
If you have been intrigued by my story and would like to see more of my creations please follow me on my social media pages:
Facebook:Ā https://m.facebook.com/RakuElements;
Instagram: www.instagram.com/raku_elementsĀ
