Meeting the artist behind Ummuramics
When we think of pottery, mainly we would think of ceramic pieces that are made for deco. Rarely do we think of it as a functional ware instead. But for Ummuramics, a local business, a line of mainly functional ceramics-ware is amongst their best-selling products.
The GERTV team had the pleasure of meeting Ummu from Ummuramics last month for an episode of Barang Baik Kena Share (Good Things Must Share). For us, as soon as we came across Ummuramics’ Instagram page and website, we knew it was something we just had to share.
Ummu’s crafts are just so unique - the colours, the shapes of each pottery piece and the theme behind every collection.
Her pottery journey started back in 2014 while she was a student at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). Back then, she was weaving different concepts with her pottery - there wasn’t really any functionality involved. But once she started crafting more and more functional wares, she knew it was what she wanted to continue doing. She then started joining art markets with the intention of sharing her wondrous craft.
After graduating, Ummu continued making works on her family’s dining table, after which she eventually was able to have a makeshift mini studio on her family’s balcony.
Now, Ummu has a mini studio space shared with Arudio Studio, where she also works part-time teaching pottery classes while crafting pieces for Ummuramics.
While it can be tiring, Ummu thoroughly enjoys what she does - creating functional art and sharing the knowledge of pottery to people who are interested to learn more about it.
We asked Ummu her thoughts on pottery as an artform, and the pottery community in Singapore.
Ummu shared: “Now I think everybody is doing it. It’s trending, it’s really trending, I don’t think it’s underrated yet. The understanding of it is maybe underrated, like why, why pottery is there, it’s still underrated. Like the history behind it, I think it’s still underrated. But the fun of it, the process, it’s quite trending,”
She tells us that the pottery community in Singapore is a close-knit group which is very important to her.
“So far it’s very nice. Everybody has their own things to do but at the same time they support each other. So, I would say it’s nice to have some pottery friends around, so if you need a second-hand wheel of kiln (it’s easy to get contacts). I think sharing is better. It’s already a very small community, so there’s really no point in being super competitive at the same time. I think it’s better if you support each other,” Ummu expressed.
Learn more about Ummuramics in the second episode of #BarangBaikKenaShare over on our IGTV!
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