Ceramist who studied in Italy to show new work at local boutique

Sasha’s—Living with Style, a home-goods boutique at 3237 E Broadway, will host an artist reception for ceramist Emily Young on Saturday, Aug. 8.

A writer and editor by profession, Young became interested in ceramics in 2004 when she visited Faenza, the cradle of ceramics in Italy.
“I visited many studios, specifically the studio of Carlo Zauli,” Young said. “It’s preserved the way he left it, and glazes are left out as if he might walk back in at any minute. I was quite taken by the power of his ceramics.”

Upon returning to California, Young took a ceramics class and met the instructor with whom she has worked for the past 10 years. Although initially she was inspired by Zauli’s gigantic totems, Young’s ceramics can be held in the hand and are functional pieces, simple in form, according to the artist.

Young spices up the ceramics with surface decoration that is usually inspired by nature and her surroundings. Recurring themes in her work include leaves, flowers and mosaic-like designs. “I keep going back to geometric forms. It reminds me of the built world,” she said.
Young is also drawn to the carving technique sgraffito, a method of scratching into layers that reveals areas of the surface, and to brilliant turquoise hues, which coat several of her new pieces.
Her ceramics style has changed since she began. The pieces previously displayed at Sasha’s—Living with Style have all-black exteriors and glossy, brightly colored interiors. The new ones she will have on hand at the reception sport matte finishes for an earthier look.
“I’ve been experimenting with leaving glaze off, letting [the pottery] be rough,” Young said. “There’s something about raw clay that appeals to me. I decided to make the finished form look unfinished.”

She says her pottery reflects her affinity for simple functional forms and juxtapositions in surface decoration— light versus dark, raw versus glazed, volume versus void. She is inspired by the beauty of nature, as well as the art and architecture of classical antiquity and midcentury modern America.
She will be at Sasha’s—Living with Style from 6pm to 9pm on Aug. 8 with around 30 examples of her high-fire stoneware and porcelain pottery. “I don’t often get to talk to the people who buy the pieces— they just sort of disappear and find new homes— so it [will] be nice to chat with people about ceramics,” she said.