Créateur du mois #8 // Maker of the Month #8: Maya

Maya is a creative powerhouse and one of the co - founders of Atelier Make. Both her hands and her mind are always busy dreaming up the next project and then making it happen. She has an original style that merges elegance with playfulness. 

Maya Maya est l’une des co - fondatrices d’Atelier Make, et elle est une créatrice hors - pair qui regorge d’idées. Ses mains et son esprit sont toujours en train de réaliser un projet et de rêver au prochain. Son style unique allie élégance et espiègleri e pour notre plus grand bonheur.

How did you come to ceramics?

I always knew that I wanted to study fine arts in university, and I was drawn to clay from a very young age. At first, I was interested in animation as a career but after a class in the cerami cs studio I saw how visceral the medium really was, if one were to become serious about it. It was very physical; there was a lot of lifting, mixing, making, loading and firing kilns. It also required very versatile set of skills; the chemistry involved i n making glazes, the endurance and teamwork of firing wood kilns, not to mention the practice, patience and skill required to make work worth looking at. I also fell in love with the sense of community and camaraderie in the ceramics studio.

Tell us about your ceramics practice, and what you enjoy making?

It's changed a lot over the many years yet there are some things that are constant. I like mixing different techniques and recently I’m enjoying working on larger pieces. I enjoy sculpting small creature s and faces. It's been many years since we started making tableware and in the last few years, I've pulled my hands away from physically making production work and have been making limited edition work that's sometimes functional and sometimes sculptural. Besides ceramics I make a lot of paper - based work as well and Jaimie & I create shadow installations under our moniker Mere Phantoms.

Tell us about your time at Atelier Make?

It's been 12 years since we began working on Atelier Make as our full - time venture and 10 years since we moved to our boutique / studio on Gilford Street. In that time a lot of life has happened, and a community has grown around the studio. I'm very proud of what the studio has become. I’m thinking about what's next, what will the next chapter look like.