Vasillaq Kolevica

Ceramicist

©VASILLAQ KOLEVICA

A lifetime of exploring clay

Vasillaq has around five decades of experience as a ceramicist
He has the biggest ceramic gallery in Albania
He creates a blend of clays that he finds in different areas of the country

With a great passion for painting, Vasillaq Kolevica wanted to become a painter like his father. But fate connected him with ceramics in 1974, and never parted. Vasillaq attended the University for Sculpture and Ceramics, but attributes his mastery of ceramics to his experience of working with clay day-to-day. He has hundreds of works in his workshop or gallery, some of which are over two metres tall, including sculptures, wall decorations, vases, decorative plates, and more. His passion for art and ceramics was so profound that his wife and two daughters joined him in this creative journey, to produce artworks with a universal reach. Inspired by the essence of femininity, he dedicated many of his works to celebrating the female figure. To him, women are the creators of life, and as such, he portrays them as goddesses in his creations. A whole lifetime of working clay into different shapes, colours, sizes and designs speaks for Vasillaq's craftsmanship more than anything else.

Interview

©VASILLAQ KOLEVICA

©VASILLAQ KOLEVICA

How would you describe your link to your craft?: There is a joke that I tell everyone: "Clay flows in my veins, not blood." I have worked with ceramics my entire life.
Did you learn from a master?: During the time that I studied at the Artistic Lyceum in the city of Korce, I worked and practised at the city's pottery. There I learned from the Masters who had inherited the pottery over the years.
What is your process?: Clay is unpredictable. It never works out the way you expect it to. I create a blend of clays that I get from various locations around Albania. Selecting the right materials is the first step towards a successful project.
Is there a memorable moment in your professional life?: In a national pottery competition, I took home first place in 1986. I was unsure I could express my creativity and artistic vision in clay until that moment. My journey as a ceramicist took an unchangeable turn after receiving this prize.

Vasillaq Kolevica is a master artisan: he began his career in 1985 and he started teaching in 1996