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Rothko Centre: Do you have a ritual you always do before starting work?<\/strong><\/p>\n Lilija Zei\u013ca: Not really, no. My ritual is a well-planned and considered mental scheme, an idea about what I\u2019m going to make and why. The hardest part is getting started (smiles). From there on, it\u2019s all pretty straightforward.<\/p>\n RC: You had your mind so firmly set on ceramics that, having failed your first exams into R\u0113zekne Secondary Art School, you went for a second attempt, is that right?<\/strong><\/p>\n LZ: I didn\u2019t want to go work in a production plant right after school, but the Academy (the Art Academy of Latvia \u2013 ed.) seemed unrealistic \u2013 people would try for five to six years to get there! Such an elite place. The crowds of would-be artists were huge, and admission criteria were super strict. They also had stiff competition in R\u0113zekne, so I didn\u2019t get in with just one mark short of excellent! That one turned out to be fatal (laughs). Of course, I was upset but decided to give it another go the following year. I didn\u2019t say anything to my parents, except \u2013 nothing doing, guess I\u2019ll apply for a regular secondary school now. No, my parents didn\u2019t mind. My dad was a simple worker, but he had an artist\u2019s soul. Still, a practical man that he was, he said I should train as a decorator: \u201cMaking posters and placards, you\u2019ll never be short of work!\u201d<\/p>\n But my heart wasn\u2019t in it. During practice placement in a factory, I saw clear as day what my job would be \u2013 ironing banners and writing slogans. So I put my foot down \u2013 no, anything but that. Those were my words to myself and others, and I went a different way.<\/p>\n At that point, all my time and thoughts were at the art studio in the Chemical District (a municipal area of Daugavpils built around a large chemical plant) on the sixth floor of a residential block. The place was run by a group of artists from R\u012bga \u2013 the Dobr\u0101ji family, K\u0101rlis and Inta, also Arnolds Auzi\u0146\u0161 and Valda Me\u017eb\u0101rde\u2026 They seemed like creatures from another planet, with fantastic ideas, a totally different perspective, so easy to be around. You had to pay to attend the studio, and they would train people for entrance exams if someone wanted to study art at the tertiary level. In Daugavpils, would-be students were mainly prepared for the Mukhina Institute in Leningrad. The three Baltic republics had stable quotas there, so it was a safer route \u2013 you could apply with reasonable chances of actually getting in. Our academy was a much riskier business. K\u0101rlis Dobr\u0101js told me to go to the Mukhina School. Why work yourself to death when it might all come to nothing? But I said no, I wanted to study here, in Latvia.<\/p>\n RC: What lessons from the studio have stayed with you to this day?<\/strong><\/p>\n LZ:We were an excellent bunch, and I was one of the youngest. The teachers were like a breath of fresh air, very different from us, locals. They didn\u2019t teach with the standard methods we got at school; they had proper academy techniques. Everything was so clear, so structured. It was a great help when I applied to the school in R\u0113zekne.<\/p>\n Their every word, their way of seeing things an untrained eye would totally miss\u2026 I remember our sessions in plein air and my frustration: \u201cWhy are we painting this grey and dreary house?\u201d To which K\u0101rlis Dobr\u0101js said \u2013 half-close your eyes and try to see it on a sunny day, all drenched in yellow light, and don\u2019t forget this marshy blue\u2026 The way he put it, so much to think about, almost to the end of your life\u2026 Oh, if everyone could have had such teachers! They could teach just about anybody, provided you really wanted to learn. After that, I had an easy time at the art school. People wouldn\u2019t believe the pieces were mine, the ones I\u2019d done at the studio. We had quite a few quarrels about it (laughs). Yes, they were trying to break me. Bring me down a peg or two (laughs).<\/p>\n RC: And still, why ceramics? It\u2019s a physically demanding art, and you\u2019re a woman\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n LZ: I have a story about that, the idea that pottery is actually a woman\u2019s job. At least in the southern countries. One day we had a tourist group over from Turkey at the Clay Centre (Daugavpils Clay Art Centre \u2013 ed.), and I invited the men to try and work the wheel. And they refused, saying it was no job for a man. \u201cMen do the firing or prepare the materials. But the pot, the vessel is made by the woman\u201d. So there you go.<\/p>\n RC: The firing, the materials\u2026 And how did you manage this \u201cunfeminine\u201d side of work?<\/strong><\/p>\n LZ: Dad told me from the word go: \u201cYou\u2019ve already made one silly mistake, gone off to study ceramics, mind you don\u2019t make another. Marry a \u201cnormal\u201d man who\u2019ll chop and carry the wood and help you with the clay.\u201d And I did just that (laughs). Back then, my husband was a physics student, which was great because he knew the material side of things, the properties of different materials and how they could be worked like the back of his hand. He knew how kilns were operated. Now all our equipment is European, but back then, we built your own kilns, and he still knows how to do it! Back in the day, everything, including electric kilns, involved some guesswork. And we always had a clear division of labour \u2013 I never poked my nose in the technical side of things. In a sense, he was my laboratory assistant, so, for instance, he knows everything there is to know about glazes.<\/p>\n RC: So you work in tandem?<\/strong><\/p>\n LZ: You won\u2019t get very far without one. If your husband wants the standard programme with a hot supper at five, you can never be a ceramicist. And it would surely be hard to manage with a bunch of children, because, like it or not, you need to work around their schedule. We only have one daughter, and she grew up under my throwing wheel. Fortunately, she didn\u2019t become a ceramicist (laughs). In general, you don\u2019t see many dynasties in this line of work, so that\u2019s bound to mean something (laughs). So, if you want the standard kit, a strict daily routine, weekends off, you\u2019ve come to the wrong person. Still, when my husband and I take a break, it\u2019s all as it should be. We go off and shut the place down.<\/p>\n Yes\u2026 (gets pensive). Your whole family needs to accept it; there\u2019s no other way. I was lucky, and ceramics became a family thing. And it still is, forty years on.<\/p>\n By the way, there\u2019s this silent understanding that ceramic wares get stamped with double initials \u2013 the man\u2019s and the wife\u2019s. But my husband said no, these are your works, so it\u2019s your name only, and that\u2019s that. I asked again, maybe we go together? \u201cNo, this is your thing,\u201d was his final say.<\/p>\n RC: Do you remember your first time at the throwing wheel?<\/strong><\/p>\n LZ: I do! And I did great the first time round. And that was it. After that, for a very long time, try as I might, I just couldn\u2019t get it right. Not until I got the hang of proper alignment, learnt to feel the material\u2026 You really need to feel it and get into the rhythm. But we were given an excellent piece of advice at the school in R\u0113zekne \u2013 instead of trying to make a vessel, the thing you\u2019re really after, just go for a cylinder, and then shape it and mould it into whatever you want. It\u2019s way more accessible and reliable in terms of approach.<\/p>\n RC: Which stages of your work are the most delicate?<\/strong><\/p>\n LZ: The firing. Unglazed, to begin with, and then with the glazing. If it\u2019s wood firing we\u2019re talking about, the effect is super special. Everything is at play \u2013 the fire, the mood and the teamwork. You can get striking results from any number of things. Even the object placed next to yours in the kiln may affect your piece and change the picture you had in your head. It may well be that the \u201cneighbour\u201d turns out better than your thing! And that\u2019s beautiful too.<\/p>\n The process is never entirely predictable. You can\u2019t get bored with ceramics because each time we wait for a miracle. Each time we are excited to open the kiln as see what we\u2019ve got. And even with the hi-tech properties of modern kilns, where you can plan the result in advance and be nearly one hundred per cent sure of getting it, there\u2019s still a degree of the unexpected.<\/p>\n RC: Have you ever felt competition from other creators?<\/strong><\/p>\n LZ: There\u2019s no competition to speak of. When we go to festivals and meet international stars, there\u2019s always something you can take home to add to your personal toolkit. I don\u2019t know about other disciplines, but we\u2019re happy to share our techniques. We don\u2019t hog them to ourselves. Well, maybe a little something\u2026 (gets pensive). You see, there\u2019s no point even trying. There\u2019s no guarantee we can even repeat our own success (smiles).<\/p>\n RC: Do you ever wish to try your hand at something new?<\/strong><\/p>\n LZ: Well, occasionally I do get cross with myself, saying \u2013 look around, everybody is testing new waters, exploring fresh themes, diversifying their creativity. But I\u2019m a firm believer in developing one thing, what you\u2019re especially good at, and training this muscle, striving for perfection, trying to become a master. Yes, I admit, sometimes I also want to go with the flow and tinker with something new. Yes, I\u2019ll make the samples, and they\u2019ll look pretty. But they don\u2019t go with my \u201csignature\u201d style \u2013 my shapes, my vessels\u2026 they just don\u2019t fit the picture. So I treat these experiments as a lesson, sort of \u201cnow I know what I shouldn\u2019t do\u201d (laughs).<\/p>\n I\u2019m self-critical. Sometimes others are thrilled, and I don\u2019t see why. Like, I might see a defect, something under-fired or overdone, a damaged texture. Now all these things are accepted as quirky bonus features. But I see flaws, and I can\u2019t help it (laughs).<\/p>\n Let\u2019s put it this way, I\u2019m not one for giving everything a go. I channel all my energies into my own thing, so I simply wouldn\u2019t have enough to properly go into different fields, not if we\u2019re talking quality. I stand for giving your best in one line of work, for attempting perfection and for continued effort. You need to keep a constant rhythm. Ideally, work every day. If you haven\u2019t touched the material for up to a month, your hand\u2019s just won\u2019t be what they used to. You should at least think about working (laughs). Or you\u2019ll get rusty and will need to start over from scratch, rebuild the fire from zero.<\/p>\n RC: Do you need special conditions to work in? How comfortable do you need to be?<\/strong><\/p>\n LZ: I\u2019ve had to start in such severe conditions that now I\u2019m okay with almost anything. I\u2019m not fussy. Of course, good things grow on you really fast, and there\u2019s a difference between mechanical throwing and having your wheel run on electricity. And if it\u2019s a dream-come-true scenario and you get to a plein air to work with a celebrated master, you might get the short end of the stick and be given the hardest, the most tedious work, such as sifting sand all day long or kneading clay. But you get a grip on yourself and do it, and hold your tongue. In my experience, it was such a good test. And the master could see straight away who had it in them and who didn\u2019t\u2026<\/p>\n Now ceramicists have it way easier \u2013 they can get all kinds of materials, whatever they need and as much as they want. In our day, it was a treasure hunt chasing raw materials. We dug our clay by hand. Now we have special facilities around Europe where you buy your glazes, there\u2019s no need to make them yourself, and everybody is buying things out there\u2026 But there are a few who still make their own stuff, and they get a vastly different result. You can spot it right away.<\/p>\n RC: Does contemporary art need texts?<\/strong><\/p>\n LZ: You know, I think it does. I\u2019ve started reading on it. And I get that that this is how you learn about the pieces. Of course, it\u2019s a gift \u2013 the ability to describe your feelings and emotions, capture a mood, put your fantasies into words. There came a point when I got into it. So yes, I think it\u2019s true. A little bit like the opera \u2013 before I go see a show, I need to read the libretto. Then I get a fuller picture and a deeper understanding of the message.<\/p>\n RC: How would you define beauty?<\/strong><\/p>\n LZ: In ceramics or in general?<\/p>\n RC: On the whole.<\/strong><\/p>\n LZ: It\u2019s hard to put into words\u2026 Harmony, I guess, in everything around you. It may well be unreal and impossible to achieve. But if you so much as get near your maximum best, and if there\u2019s harmony in the essentials\u2026 Right now, at my age, my main concern is my loved ones. When they\u2019re all fine, it\u2019s beautiful! The minutes, the time spent with my people, mine in blood and in spirit\u2026 Some I don\u2019t meet above once a year, but our precious times together give me this wonderful vibe. They transform the world into a thing of beauty and turn everything beautiful. Even if these are chance encounters, in truth \u2013 in fact, I\u2019m certain \u2013 they\u2019re part of a bigger plan (smiles). The warmth of these meetings sustains me for a very long time.<\/p>\n Or when you come home from long and eventful travels, like a trip to Rome. I often hear people speak of such homecomings in derogatory terms, like coming back to the sticks where you have nothing. I disagree. I don\u2019t feel that way. The colours of my travels fill me to the core and then burst out into my environment. They radiate their warmth and shine their light on everything that surrounds me. The spirit of adventure makes my life more vibrant here, at home. And you can see its effects in my creativity; it\u2019s a different mood. Positive emotions save your work from getting dull and going stale. Everything you do in this frame of mind is beautiful.<\/p>\n