• Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure

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Photography: Julien Fernandez 
25 / 05 / 2021
Attuned to the tiniest details of everyday life and demonstrating a melodic and refined creativity, Justine and Jean Hay de Slade compose vases, lamps and delicate works of art, using stoneware and porcelain, nature and simplicity.
It is in their atelier in Charente-Maritime, south-west France, that the founder of Epure offers us a glimpse of her creative universe, revealing an exercise about time and imperfection.

How did your passion for ceramics and artisanship come about?
I started by myself ten years ago and Jean joined me about six years ago. I created Epure more as a signature for my pieces; I never expected it to become a brand. I started because I liked working with my hands, the creative side, and I quickly realised this was what I had to do. The freedom to act and the power of decision-making that this kind of work demands are inspiring but also draining, because, being a passion, we let ourselves be completely absorbed by it and begin to live for this alone.

How do you try to imprint truth in the pieces you sign?
Most of all I want to get closer to my essence, emphasising what animates me, what moves me, what touches me. To be myself at the moment of creation and to know how to listen to my senses. Everything inspires me: my encounters, my experiences, the place where I live, my walks. Inspiration can come from the lichens I see when I walk, from a painting in a museum, from the colour of a vegetable, from the feathers of a bird.  
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
What fascinates you most about working with stoneware and Limoges porcelain?
I started working with earthenware in my first courses and I have a deep affection for porcelain. Its sweetness, fragility and wonderful whiteness that at the same time possesses great character and resistance. We say that porcelain is whimsical when we work it: it is not an obvious type of earth, I like the idea of it being seemingly smooth but complex. As for stoneware, I like its coarser side, I’m attracted by grog and its wrinkled appearance. It has a particular feel and demands a different type of work, but I appreciate this variation. In fact, I am currently creating black pieces in grog.
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
  • Justine & Jean Hay de Slade - Epure
For more information, visit Epure Céramique website.
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