TERESA BRANCO: COMMUNITY-MINDED CERAMIC ARTIST
Photo credit: Simon Kämpfer
Photo credit: Yuki Sugiura
“A big part of the artist I am involves loving the clay and its true expression”
For ceramic artist Teresa Branco, community and creative expression have always been intricately linked. The joy she feels when creating ceramics, her “escape room” as she calls it, combined with her natural empathy, has shaped her life trajectory, first as a social worker employing creative projects to help her clients, and now as a full-time ceramicist, where she balances her own projects with community outreach. Rooted in a deep love of nature and a propensity to “go in the wind’s flavour, sailing through the wave,” her creative process is fluid and open to possibility; she harnesses ceramic traditions from around the world and across time while playfully experimenting. Drawn by her tactile, painterly approach to glazing, De La Espada commissioned her to glaze the ceramic handles and tiles for the Arts & Crafts Cabinet, showcasing her craft and artistry against the backdrop of woodworking and textile art. We were excited to learn more about her artistic approach, as well as her community work, and she was kind enough to share with us.
Teresa Branco’s path to her current career as a ceramic artist may not seem typical, but she sees everything as a clear extension of what came before. Raised in the rural Ega, in Coimbra, Portugal, she developed a strong connection with nature and the land around her and, as a child, would intuitively shape the clay she unearthed while playing. When, at the age of 18, she was introduced to ceramics as an art form through a workshop in Porto, she was viscerally reconnected with these childhood moments. The impact for her was strong, and ceramics immediately became a revitalising way for her to connect with her authentic self and the world around her. Still, for decades, she viewed it more as a hobby than a central purpose, and fit it in only where her schedule would allow.
Some of Teresa's treasured items on display in her studio, including a photo of her as a child. Photo credit: Simon Kämpfer
Her first career, stretching across 22 years, was in social work and, during this time, ceramics was an escape for her, something that helped her unwind from the stresses of her job. She recognised the value that creative expression brought to her own life, and incorporated this into the way she worked with her clients.
Teresa explains: “When I first started working in the social area, I worked directly with groups of young people — the same age as me, at the time — who struggled with drug addiction and with school integration. It was a major challenge motivating people the same age as I to change, to fight addiction. What was important, and came naturally for me, was to empathise with these people, understanding their situation and motives, and captivating them through artistic expression; I made change through arts and crafts my goal. Because there was a general sense of hope within this young community – filled with dreams and ambitions – their integration became possible.”
For over two decades, Teresa dedicated herself to improving the lives of others, working with the unhoused, underprivileged, and those facing numerous other difficulties. Her creative mind helped her develop programmes that were not only successful on an individual level, but which won her international awards.
One such initiative was the Programa Aconchego: “This was envisioned to work as a mathematical-social formula to tackle two issues at once. It consisted of allocating university students coming into the city to elderly people who lived by themselves, thus tackling, on one hand, the accommodation issue faced by the students, and, on the other hand, the loneliness of Porto’s residing elderly population,” she explains.
Photography courtesy of Teresa Branco
Despite her success in the social care arena, Branco was frustrated by the limitations of what she could achieve in this line of work: “I dared to look back to where I was coming from and realised that, indeed, institutions do have the power to change a community, but the sense of unwillingness surpasses their real action. Despite being an unfortunate truth, I accepted the fact I couldn’t be this super-empowered individual who’d one day change the world, and this acceptance allowed me to start building this project of mine, where I feel the most free and have an actual impact – at my scale, to the ones surrounding me, whom I also get to support in their own path.”
The project she refers to is Brâmica, the ceramic studio she established both as her creative workspace and as a place for others to engage in their own creative projects. It was a bold career change, and one that allows her to realise both of her passions at once, embracing her creative expression while continuing to work with the community. “My vision for this project is to combine artistic expression through ceramics. During my practice in the social field, I always felt that many people feel the need to express themselves and that, oftentimes, their professional occupation and social environment doesn't fulfil that need. Having this in mind, I combined my previous experience with my passion for ceramics and arts in general. Today, I can pursue what I really love and open this door for other people with an artistic expression similar to mine,” she explains.
Photo credit: Simon Kämpfer
Brâmica accommodates those who wish to take a one-off workshop, such as a create-your-own azulejos (traditional Portuguese tiles), and those who wish to work on longer-term projects. For some, this studio opportunity provides them with the experience they need to launch their own creative careers. But overall, it creates an important sense of community and belonging.
This is something Teresa is constantly striving to build, and it extends to other projects, such as Cascata Comunitária de São João, an annual event in Porto she initiated in 2016. Cascata invites participants of all ages to come together to recreate the Porto cityscape in ceramic. This year, there were over 600 participants, from young children to professionals to practising artists, who together created hundreds of ceramic pieces later displayed at Bolhão Market. The warm, inclusive nature of the event helps people, including many from abroad, feel a deeper connection to their community while they take enjoyment in their creativity.
Photo credit: Simon Kämpfer
Photography courtesy of Teresa Branco
Photo credit: Simon Kämpfer
While Teresa shares her studio space with others, her own ceramic work is a deeply personal, individualised activity where she takes time to connect to the earth, a childlike experimentation and play, and her own inner world. “A big part of the artist I am involves loving the clay and its true expression,” she says.
The artist favours “primitive” hand work over the use of sophisticated tools, using techniques such as simple coiling or pressing of clay balls to maximise the sensual connection between her hands and the clay — that bond that started in childhood. This results in dynamic, irregular forms that express the kinship between humans and the natural world; pieces that are contemporary while carrying the influence of the past.
Branco maximises the tactility and visual interest of the pieces with thoughtful finishing methods that both draw from tradition and incorporate her own experimentations and innovations.
One example of a traditional finishing method she uses is “raku”, a Japanese firing technique she refers to as “living ceramics” as she finds it “so deeply connected with the ephemerality of life.”
She explains: “Japanese people used to build their small cups to drink tea, which they broke afterwards – thus, accepting beauty’s brevity. I use this technique to add emotion to my pieces. The process itself is simple, but involves a high level of risk and tension. The ceramic pieces should be shaped, the clay already dry, bisque-fired and glazed for low fire. Then, they enter the special gas oven where the temperature reaches 950ºC. The pieces are then removed from the oven and moved into a sawdust container, gaining some fissures due to the thermic shock. The smoke from the burnt sawdust ‘paints’ the cracks in the pieces, which highlights the organic nature of the clay, and creates an antique feel.”
Photography courtesy of Teresa Branco
When glazing, Branco enjoys experimenting, combining glazes and oxides to create different compositions: “Varying the percentage of glazes and oxides allows me to create new formulas and new colours. One of the most curious experiences I've witnessed was the chemical reaction between the transparent glaze and manganese oxide; the result was similar to expansive lava.”
This is her approach to glazing the ceramic components of the Arts & Crafts Cabinet by De La Espada Atelier. It is a time-consuming process and its inherent variability makes every piece unique: “Each composition takes around two weeks of work, as it always begins as a test — a new experience. First, we need to establish the colour and consistency we want to create; then, glazes and oxides should be selected for the new formula. After firing, we can verify if the test piece matches expectations, both visually and technically. If these steps were successful, the work can move on and the formula can be applied to the ‘official pieces.’ Otherwise, new tests should be run.”
Branco continues: “While creating and glazing the tiles for the De La Espada Arts & Crafts cabinet, I used two glazing techniques: pouring and painting with a brush. Pouring glaze over ceramic pieces allows a better consistency and homogeneity. Only if there are spots missing glaze, would I use a brush to cover up.”
The artistry of these ceramic pieces is a reflection of every decision the artist makes along the way; the control and surrender; the traditional know-how and the experimentation. “The unexpected is always a good teacher and is a constant in ceramics. There is no guarantee the result will be as planned, so dealing with this is a way of growing as an artist and as an individual,” she explains.
Photo credit: Yuki Sugiura
Having chosen, after a 22-year career in social work, to shift her focus to ceramics full-time, to connect deeply with her two greatest passions, creative expression and community outreach, Teresa is appreciative of how her life has unfolded: “More than ever, I feel grateful for life, for the place it’s led me to and for allowing me to express my true self. Life is generous and abundant in itself.”
She takes enjoyment in finding the rhythm of each day, of allowing herself to be pulled by the ebb and flow of the creative process: “Every day is unexpectedly different. I never planned on having a fixed timetable because I believe there’s no predefined schedule for creativity – it is a spontaneous process. Brâmica is a dynamic space, where people can come in to be adventurous when they feel like it – it’s the reason why there may be a serene ambience one day and a rush feel the next. Above all, Brâmica is a place filled with people who love ceramic.”
There is much Teresa Branco has achieved for which she could feel proud, but what gives her the greatest feeling of pride is “Believing it’s possible to project an idea and materialise it. This is the formula I’ve put into practice and that unites design with the saber fazer, the knowledge source. Every time I develop a new shape, I’m able to project more for the next one, improving the technique and results. It’s a permanent growth. My artistic expression is in constant change, like we all are.”
Learn more about Teresa Branco
Learn more about the Arts & Crafts Cabinet
The outdoor space at Brâmica, photographed by Simon Kämpfer
