Why I fell in love with paper porcelain and never looked back

Some materials find you. Paper porcelain found me.

When I think about where it all started, I always come back to my mother's workshop. She was a textile and paper designer, and her studio was filled with stacks of beautiful handmade paper and textiles. As a child, I was surrounded by those edges, the organic, imperfect lines of torn paper and shredded fabric. Something about those edges stayed with me.

Years later, when I started working with porcelain, I wanted to bring that feeling into my work. I was searching for textures that reminded me of paper and textile. That soft, organic quality. The randomness. The beauty of an edge that isn't straight or perfect.

So I started adding fibers to porcelain. And from the very first piece, I felt it. Freedom.

Why porcelain alone wasn't enough

Before paper porcelain, I worked with all kinds of high-fire clays. But managing different clays became complicated. Too many variables, too much hassle. I wanted simplicity.

But more than that, I felt stuck. Pure porcelain is beautiful, but it's extremely difficult to handle. The drying process must be slow and controlled. And porcelain has what I call "a memory." If you make a bump or a curve that you don't like, you can hardly cover it up. The mistake will show once it's fired. Porcelain remembers everything.

For someone like me, that was frustrating. I'm not a perfectionist. I always say, "I'm perfect in my imperfections." I don't like straight lines. I like crooked lines. I like it when every line is different.

Porcelain's unforgiving nature didn't fit my personality.

What paper porcelain changed for me

When I discovered what adding fibers to porcelain could do, everything shifted.

With paper porcelain, I can completely reshape a piece even when it's fully dried. I can rehydrate it, deform it, change my mind. If I'm not happy with a form, I fix it. If there's a crack, I repair it. Even after the bisque firing, I can still add new parts of raw paper porcelain.

No stress about cracks. No stress about the drying process. No memory holding my mistakes against me.

Just freedom.

From the first pieces I made, I felt an enormous sense of possibility. I could finally make whatever I had in my head. Whatever I imagined, I could create.

I still have that very first piece. It was a challenge, but the outcome was wonderful. And it showed me the path I wanted to follow.

25 years later, why I'm still here

People sometimes ask me what keeps me excited about paper porcelain after all these years.

The answer is simple: total freedom as an artist.

I can make whatever I want. I can change direction at any moment. I can follow my ideas without fighting the material. Paper porcelain works with me, not against me.

And I think that's what I would want anyone who has never tried paper porcelain to understand. This material removes the barriers. It takes away the fear. It gives you space to create without constantly worrying about what might go wrong.

For me, paper porcelain isn't just a technique. It fits who I am. It allows me to be imperfect, to embrace crooked lines, to change my mind, to play.

And after 25 years, that feeling of freedom is still there. Every single time I work.

It all started when…

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