Micaela is a ceramic artist who fuses elaborate surface decorations with forms in clay, some more sculptural than others. Surface, form, colour, texture, feel and decorative patternwork - all these come together in her work. Her ceramics combine both visual and tactile qualities whether in sculptural pieces or domestic ware.
"As a ‘Weltbürger’ (=citizen of the world) with my own diverse cultural and geographical roots I feel the current climate of rising nationalism in which multiculturalism is losing its positive connotations very disturbing. This concern informs my work, which explores cultural identity and cross-cultural crossover through the use of patterns and decorative traditions used by different peoples (both current and historically) across the world. My research goes beyond pottery to look at patterns used in within other applied arts such as architecture and textiles. I am also interested in the link between visual patterns and writing. Patterns often contain within them elements of symbolism which is not far from the visual language used in writing systems based on pictograms."
