Gaya Ceramics are masters of innovative, handmade creations with inventive glazing techniques, transforming clay into one-of-a-kind pieces. Renowned worldwide for their exquisite creations, their team of artisans craft our pieces entirely by hand at their workshop in Bali, surrounded by the lush, verdant mountains of Ubud.
Founded in 2001 by Marcello Massoni and Michela Foppiani, the husband and wife team started their ceramics journey in their home country of Italy, and formed Gaya Ceramics after moving to Bali. It is with this Italian influence combined with first-class technical expertise and the warm spirit of Bali that permeates each creation, ensuring that every piece is a handmade piece of art.
“Handmade ceramics give a sense of the work and skill of the artisans who create it—the impact and feeling between handmade and industrial production is completely different and recognisable.”
We spoke with the inspiring team at Gaya Ceramics about the company, production processes, and the beauty of the handmade.
Tell us a bit about the history of Gaya Ceramics
The Gaya Team started creating ceramics in Bali in 2001, but Michela and Marcello, the owners, started their ceramic journey in 1993 in Italy. So it’s almost 30 years of experience…and mistakes. This long, difficult and enjoyable path allowed us to define a specific creative method supported by a vast library of technical skill we accumulated over the years. This profound technical expertise allow us to be creative without limits.
Michela’s background is in sculpture—she graduated from Accademia di Brera in Milan, and Marcello graduated in Political Science in Milan’s State University, but he studied ceramics in many international ceramic academies and with many international ceramic masters.
We customise exclusive collections for some of the most demanding international customers in the world. All our ceramics are hand-thrown and hand-painted, crafted in different techniques, using porcelain, stoneware and raku clay.
Who are the people that make up Gaya Ceramics?
In the Design Studio we are three Italians - Michela, Marcello and me, Irina, the Marketing Advisor. The rest of team is Indonesian, mostly Balinese. Their craftsmanship is amazing! The combination of their passion and skills with high-quality design and materials, production control, constant aesthetic exploration lead us to great results and satisfaction.
We also have an Educational Brand with two American artists, Hillary and Eva, and four Balinese people: all together we are about 100 people.
How would you describe the difference between handmade and industrial production?
Handmade ceramics give a sense of the work and skills of the artisans who create it, paying homage to the story behind each object. The impact and feeling between the handmade and industrial production is completely different and recognisable. The community work is a creative experience and this creativity permeates all our designs.
Tell us about your processes and the challenges you face with ceramic production
Every day is a fusion of sure and unsure circumstances, an infinite world of technical precision and mistakes, hard work and delusions, simplicity and happiness. Ceramic process is unpredictable. Until you open the kiln you do not know if a production has been successful. Lots of factors affect the final result and even our constant research is not sufficient to guarantee a 100% perfect result. Sometimes we might fire a piece again or re-make a glaze because of cracking. Bulk production emphasises small problems and even what cannot be seen during the sample process. That’s normal! To cope with the everyday difficulties we have built a very skilled and trained Quality Control Team.
Do you have any processes in place to recycle or reuse excess materials?
We are constantly working to reduce Gaya's carbon footprint and focus on our sustainable ecological developments. When you create, make or produce, part of your outcome is, unfortunately, WASTE...and such production extras is typically forgotten, unused or disposed.
Instead, our leftovers are up-cycled and creatively transformed into new art features, wall installations, limited editions, peculiar gifts, unique decorations or one-off composition. In a double creative and technical effort, objects designed for a purpose are now visually reinvented and repurposed. From waste to wonder—gorgeous and inimitable "new life" for unfortunate and forgotten ceramics.
