Delia Sánchez-Matas

@deliasanchezmatas

Sculptor and ceramist based in Cáceres, a town with a charming medieval district, located in Western Spain.

Delia has been working with ceramics and sculpture for many years. She has studied in different schools, always pursuing the local craftsmanship and the contact with the materials. She was in Mérida (Extremadura), a place that introduced her to "tintinábulos", a kind of musical rattles from Roman times that were used to ward off evil spirits in religious rituals. Delia carried out research on this peculiar object, for which she received an award. She also studied at the School of Porto (Portugal), where she wanted to learn the technique of cobalt decoration in the Portuguese tradition.

We visited her home-studio in a building with vaults and thick walls, filled with peculiar objects that come from her family memory.

How would you describe your art?

For me, art is the exploration of beauty in our surroundings, the things that make us feel good so that we can feel more comfortable in this world. Sometimes the world becomes a place with a lack of harmony and, through creativity, we can balance it. In this search for beauty, I also look to my roots, what the history of where I live has taught me. When I make ceramics, I immerse myself in local memory and work with traditional techniques. An intrahistory emerges: what I have learned from my ancestors comes to the surface in my work.

What does inspire you?

Reality itself. In my everyday life, anything outside the creative environment can become a new series or a piece of art. Human beings, from the beginning, have had a creative vision of their surroundings and this inspires me deeply. I take references from historical elements and I translate them into ceramics. I'm also influenced by different artistic mediums, such as drawing or illustration, to work on them from my own language.

My work is very rooted in the origins of history, in my ancestors, in family stories.

What is being a woman for you?

I feel it is a responsibility after being given the gift of being such. Women have the power of life-giving and possessing that inner wisdom to know that the world does not have to be violent. We are peaceful, protective as if we carry the torch of human survival.

What do you celebrate about being a woman?

The pride of coming from women like my mother and grandmother. I have had very brave female role models who succeeded in an obsolete society. They, in difficult times, chose alternative ways of life, they had a very positive learning experience which they wanted to pass on to me.

Motherhood was also a very important gift: to see your body's capacity to transform, to be two in one.

How do you feel about being a woman in the art industry?

I feel very frustrated with the art world's elitism. There is too much ego, too many obstacles, too little collaboration and too much competition.

Photos by Mercedes Polo Portillo ©