Collection: CHALA TOPRAK

I work exclusively with the highest quality porcelain because it allows me to experiment with the creative process and shape exquisite and fragile flowers. My pieces are a testament to the celebration of life, represented by the blooms we share with loved ones. Flowers remind us how we also can grow and blossom, each uniquely, just as each piece is hand crafted and glazed. Walking with my young son through Brooklyn, I find inspiration everywhere from neighbors’ gardens to the local park and then research the shapes and petals that catch my eye. ‘Dear You’ pieces are meant to be used and enjoyed every day, beautiful to see and touch. Like life, they are a gift, created with love and kindness, from my hand to yours.

Often, I start with something in mind and let my hands do the work in tandem with my eye. I employ wheel and hand building (coiling) techniques to ensure each piece is an original; sometimes among the petals you may find hand and fingerprints. The pieces are fired in the gas kiln at Gasworks NYC Studio, one of only three studios using gas-fired kilns in New York. The porcelain offers a luminescent quality, which allows me to adorn my pieces with paper-thin petals and blooms. Still a relative newcomer to ceramics, I love exploring techniques and styles as ‘Dear You’ blooms. Join me on my journey…

Biography