Xavier Toubes

A poetic presence

• Xavier is originally from Galicia
• He is a professor at the Art Institute in Chicago
• He was a finalist in the Loewe prize 2020 edition

In the early 1970s, Xavier Toubes was living in London, and after becoming interested in ceramics, he began to take pottery evening classes. It all started then and throughout the years his philosophy of “thinking is making” has taken him to live in different places. From the Netherlands to the United States, he has been led by his belief in creating objects, in his words, with a ”physical and poetic presence”. His nomadic life and inner curiosity have shaped his constant interest in learning and being inspired by his endless research of all things, contemporary and past. He has a physical relationship with clay, seeing him at work is like experiencing a dance where his hands shape, roll, stack, pinch, colour and incise, before the final firing, when the object is brought to life.

Interview

©Xavier Toubes

©Xavier Toubes

What is your creative process?

I work in series, often at the same time and in different studios and locations. Somewhat I hybridize all of these, juxtaposing, destroying, covering, erasing. The hand makes and moves in layers through shapes, colours and light: present and pulsating.

Would you call your process intimate?

It is indeed, the work becomes a sort of evolving language, transforming itself and providing hints on how to materialise the internal dialogue. This is how I create an object of sensation, in the attempt to coordinate what I know and the not-yet-known.

What does ceramics mean to you?

Essentially, working in ceramic allows me to be absorbed with my body and mind in the process of making. The clay is modelled by the instincts at the back of my mind: envisioning an object that is fluid, electrical, absurd, theatrical and existential, with wild beauty.

Is there a piece of advice you would like to share?

My profession always keeps me alert, I work, I make. I never stop researching, experimenting and learning. This is the advice I would give: it’s about learning all the time, as soon as one piece is finished, start with another, trust what you don’t know.

Xavier Toubes is a master artisan: he began his career in 1977 and he started teaching in 1983

Works

©Tom van Eynde

©Xavier Toubes

©Xavier Toubes

©Xavier Toubes

Where