Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Carolina Delleva. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Carolina, thanks for joining us today. The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?

When my work started to be recognized, it was a pleasant surprise. My friends suggested that I participate in craft fairs in alternative cultural spaces, and I was curious to see if I would sell anything or not. My first sales were actually made to my friends, and then I started gaining an audience through social media. Being from São Paulo, Brazil, I always sold in Brazilian Reais, our local currency, but over time, some international sales started happening, thanks to the use of the #ceramics hashtag. It was a very happy surprise. Taking one of my sculptures to the post office and shipping it to Norway (my first international sale) was an exciting experience.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hello, my name is Carolina and I am an artist. My journey here has been filled with interesting episodes that can be seen from different perspectives. I choose the most positive one to share with you. In my country, when a person finishes their studies, they must take an exam to access university, usually at the age of 17. During this period, I wasn’t sure what to study, so I decided to work, save money, and travel through the Old World, Europe. It was in London in the year 2000 that I had my first contact with ceramics. In the short period of three months that this course lasted, I had a sort of revelation, a clear feeling that clay was a material with which I could express the abstract messages I carry within. It was an exciting period with many revelations. Coming from a non-artistic family, being away from home allowed me to experience everything with great freedom. Each discovery I made was taken seriously at that moment. Influences from different parts of the world were like a strong gust of wind beneath my wings.

From London, I went to Spain where I pursued a higher degree in Artistic Ceramics. For years, my life revolved around studying during the day and working in hospitality at night, which was another one of my many passions. I also sang in bars and hotels. It didn’t take long for me to form a band, and I put ceramics aside for a few years because we played extensively throughout Barcelona.

Over the years, the scene changed and I became a mother. I distanced myself from the stage and the nightlife, returned to São Paulo, and opened my studio where I have been working for 10 years, giving shape to my emotions and teaching others to use clay as a tool to communicate their abstract emotions as well.

It’s interesting to observe that my target audience consists of therapists and psychoanalysts. But it makes me happy to know that I also reach simple people with no psychoanalytic or artistic background. It brings me great joy to know that my sculptures resonate with anyone. This deeply fulfills me as an artist. As a teacher, in addition to teaching the ceramic techniques I have learned and developed through my experience, I accompany the creative process of my students. I provoke observation in the process, accepting impermanence. We observe the transformation of the material and our ideas. A project that starts in one way has the freedom to transform along its path.

And that’s what I have to offer, both in my artworks and to my students: the beautiful result of accepting impermanence. When a piece breaks during firing, I always restore it. I consider this type of trauma an important mark that makes the sculpture even more unique. It fascinates me.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I was 24 years old and studying ceramics in Barcelona, a friend introduced me to a close friend of hers, a Moroccan man who worked in Marrakesh exporting decorative objects and local artwork to decorate hotels and restaurants in Europe. I got in touch with him, and off I went to Marrakesh, all by myself. Abdel welcomed me warmly into his home, where he lived with his family, and he introduced me to a village on the outskirts of the city where ceramics were made. For three months, I worked there from Monday to Thursday. I didn’t charge anything, and I don’t think I was of much help either because I didn’t fully understand the language; we communicated in French. I made friends with women who wore burqas, and they held my hand as a sign of friendship and trust when we walked through the village. I learned to eat with my hands, to listen to what was being said in conversations even though I only understood a few words, and to adopt an attitude of security and respect for the different. And so the days passed. That atmosphere transformed my path; it left a strong mark on my fresh clay.

Have you ever had to pivot?

That happened to me when a producer found me through #ceramics and invited me to decorate a small area of their booth at a well-known fair here in Brazil called Casa Cor. This artist named Tici became a close friend of mine, and I am immensely grateful to her. This partnership propelled me as an artist and generated many opportunities for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: @_marroca
• Instagram: @carolina_delleva

Image Credits
Foto. Chica Sanmartin