Overview

Nicholas Arroyave-Portela has had a ceramic professional practice for the last 25 years. He was based in London for 20 of those years but is now based in Barcelona, Spain. His works are in major private and Museum collections worldwide including The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK, the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK, the Philadelphia Museum of art, USA, and the Mint Museum, USA, to name a few.

Nicholas Arroyave-Portela artist starts out by throwing his creations on the wheel using a technique unique to him where he pulls up as much clay from the bottom as possible so that the clay walls may be thin and even in order to be best manipulated while still soft and malleable. After the first initial bisque firing (1080 degrees) which sometimes might include a layer of Porcelain slip, the glaze is then applied by using methods including spraying and pouring and this process might be repeated various times after each firing of 1280 degrees. The multi-firing process allows for the build up of glaze texture in order to create a palette of rich tones and finishes.  All of Nicholas works are intended as domestic interior sculptures and are not suitable for holding water. 

Works