UAU by Vanessa Singenzia

Under the name UAU, Vanessa Singenzia creates ceramic objects that resist behaving like ordinary things. Cups, containers and small sculptural forms may retain a practical use, but function is only their point of departure. Each piece is shaped by an intuitive conversation with clay, in which texture, colour and curiosity are allowed to redirect the process. The resulting objects sit between utility and sculpture, asking to be held as much as they ask to be observed.

Singenzia works primarily with glazed ceramic, sometimes introducing string or metal into the composition. The hand remains visible in the irregularities of the surface and in the slight variations between related pieces. Rather than concealing those marks, she treats them as evidence of the encounter between maker and material. No two objects need to resolve themselves in exactly the same way. Imperfection becomes not a defect but a record of pressure, movement and decision.

The UAU collection includes containers, cups and pocket-sized forms with vivid combinations of blue, red, orange, purple, yellow and green. Their names, including Squeezed, Slow Burner and Pocket Muse, reinforce the sense that each object has its own temperament. Some appear playful and immediate, while others seem to hold a quieter tension. Even the most recognisable vessel can feel slightly unfamiliar, as though it has developed a private purpose beyond the one assigned to it.

For Singenzia, an object does not need to choose between usefulness and imaginative presence. It can accompany a daily ritual while remaining strange, tactile and visually independent. UAU makes space for that productive uncertainty, bringing sculpture into the hand and allowing ordinary life to become a little less predictable.