Maximo Malaiu

06 — Material

Mineral Structures

Using shards from minerals to inspire design.

A ceramic sculpture of jagged shards fused into a mass, glazed in iridescent pink, cream and pale blue.
Mineral glazes
Year
2024
Material
Ceramic, mineral glazes
Reference
The Andes

The premise

Incorporating and blending insights from nature's inherent forces — the ones that generate monumental structures and provide mineral richness.

Gestural fading lines release the rigidity of geometric shapes. The work draws on the sculptural influences of the Andes to speculate on new forms of structural representation.

The ceramic colours are my own: the glazes are formulated from minerals, so the piece is coloured by the same material it takes its form from.

Black and white photograph of a deeply eroded rock face, with a small inset of the same formation in vivid orange.
Rock face

Related

The same interest in guiding a formless material towards structure drives the Terracotta Facility, and the plaster casting in Ultra Processed.