Details
| First Name | Greta |
| Last Name | Rekstyte |
| Nickname | Greta Rek |
Social Media
My Ceramics
| In the studio I like to do | Handbuilding, Sculpting |
| Clay body | Stoneware |
| Kiln Type | Electric Kiln |
| You can buy my work from |
About Me
| Introduction | My name is Greta, I am originally from small Baltic country in Europe – Lithuania but now living in Berlin, Germany. My background is in fine arts, graphic design, communication in creative industries and fashion industry. I am making functional hand-built pottery but hoping to get a kiln one day and experiment with materials and bigger objects. I am a minimalist by nature so my pottery is also minimal. I am mostly interested in connecting old and new, timeless pottery with simple and subtle beauty of the material itself and create a type of depth and tranquility for people’s home. Quite often I like to leave my works partly unglazed, to show the texture of the clay, the marks of making and how warm clay feels in hands. |
| What I Love about Ceramics | I love the process of working with clay with my hands in various stages, how it connects to the nature and slows you down. I love how many possibilities there are, how much there is still to learn and it surprises you every time. I love the feeling when you take yours or not hand-made object and it has that different kind of quality. And the idea that people were making the same objects years ago and it is all connected. |
| How I started with ceramics | I had worked with clay in fine arts school’s sculpture subject and always loved it but back then thought that painting is my medium. I got back with working with clay and attended pottery classes in 2018 when felt a huge need for making something with my hands again while still working in an office in fashion industry. I didn’t stop since then, it helped me to balance my life. |
| What inspires me | I am inspired by architecture, fine arts, nature, history, geometry, light and shadow. My current works are inspired by abstract expressionist paintings, calligraphy and black pottery that is still practiced in Lithuania and I searching how all of it can connect. Light and dark, East and West, old and new. Baltic seaside and pine trees forest are places where I recharge so when making marks of my pottery, I am thinking about them. Working with ceramics has the same type of inner calm when I am at those places. I am also interested in ancient pottery and tradition, how people did it with basic tools so often I take inspiration for shapes from it. |
| What I'm working on at the moment | I am working on creating my little brand called Ondou: https://www.instagram.com/ondoustudio/ Ondou in the Samogitian dialect of Lithuania means Water and comes from the Lithuanian word “Vanduo”. The choice of the brand’s name is based on the importance of the water theme for me from many aspects – I was born by the Baltic sea and the topic followed me through my other works, I like philosophical idea that every living thing, including clay, needs water and ecological aspect that we need to conserve water. The brand’s name was chosen in a specific Lithuanian dialect to show my Lithuanian roots and to add a folkloric beauty touch that emphasises the importance of authenticity and traditions. |
