Melina Xenaki

Ceramicist

Finding motifs in all things natural

Melina loves coiling, slab-building and carving to produce her clay vessels
For her, glazing is as fundamental as the form, and she makes her own glazes
She creates custom ceramic objects and installations for clients

Melina Xenaki is a ceramics artist based in Athens. She left Greece at 18 to study in the UK and completed her BA in ceramics and glass at UCA, Farnham, with first class honours. Melina then moved to London for her master’s degree at the Royal College of Art. After graduating, she spent six years in London creating at her studio in Dalston and took part in many ceramics shows and craft fairs across the UK, where she met many potters and made friends. Her work has shifted from slip-casting to hand-building over the years. Her first inspiration was the wild Bronze Age Cypriot pots she saw at the Museum of Cycladic Art. “I think I missed the Mediterranean nature, the animals, the plants, the sun, and I began bringing all these into my work at my London studio,” she says. For Melina, the craft of ceramics is not a solitary practice, but the reason people come together to explore, discover and grow.

Interview

What do you love most about your craft?: I love that through my work I navigate the world, its history and the people who have made objects. I love expressing the universal need to create, to bring beauty into the world, to communicate feelings of love, awe, devotion, and ideas of identity. I enjoy the knowledge accumulation through craft.
Which is your favourite technique and why?: I hand-build pots using my favourite technique which is coiling. I love coiling because it allows me to build my forms slowly and alter their curves, necks, and handles as I go. I bring goats to rest on the pots’ shoulders, I decorate the necks of my amphorae with leaves, and I carve patterns following the motifs on ancient Greek vessels.
Where do you draw inspiration from?: I get inspired by ancient artefacts from the Mediterranean region: Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus. I often visit museums and marvel at metalwork or marble pieces which I then re-imagine in clay. I love folk art such as traditional Greek embroidery, woodcarving, and fine jewellery which inspire my motifs and vessel forms. I look at how those artists represent nature, trees, and animals, or at how a flower becomes a motif.
Could you tell us about the ceramics market you organise in Athens?: One of the best experiences as a professional ceramicist in London was participating in Earth and Fire, a well-known ceramics-only fair. When I returned to Greece, I set up the first ceramics market in the centre of Athens, and more than 60 makers take part from all over Greece. Running twice a year since 2022, I hope this meeting space will continue to grow and help ceramicists develop their clientele, network with galleries, shops and architects, as well as build bridges with other makers to expand the community.

Melina Xenaki is a master artisan: she began her career in 2014 and she started teaching in 2014