About the Instructor

Vanessa Cabezas

I am Vanesa Cabezas, a Colombian woman, proud to believe that art is a tool for social transformation. Passionate about the art, crafts and culture of my Latin American community. I have dedicated my last 6 years to learning, building and recognizing myself in ceramics, working hand in hand with communities in Colombia, including child and adult populations. The community experience has led me to work in the field of teaching art and teaching ceramics.My path with respect to the art of ceramics began at Francisco Jose De Caldas University, Faculty of The Arts ASAB, in Bogota, Colombia. In this academic setting I was first able to develop my talents through instruction, and evaluation. After four years of dedicated study to the art of ceramics, I shifted my focus to the investigation of the processes of ceramics themselves, and their practical uses. This subsequent work was largely based on the perspectives of feminist pottery communities in Colombia. Outside of the realm of academia, I discovered teachers sharing their knowledge openly in private studios, like that of BKLYN Clay; among them are: Studio Sumo Cerámico in Bucaramanga, Colombia, Fire Spirit in Bucaramanga, Colombia, and Soul of the Earth in Cali, Colombia.As the pandemic pushed artists looking to practice and share their art onto platforms like zoom, I was able to continue learning from those openly sharing their techniques. Through online workshops, I was able to learn the processes of Argentine ceramists like those of the “We are Blue Cobalt” collective, and feminist collective “Olleras (Makers of Pots) Ceramics”, and Pablo Ruiz.As I met more artists and built strong relationships, myself and a few other ceramists oversaw the establishment of a ceramics collective to keep growing, developing, and promoting the art of ceramics in Colombia. Through this collective we investigated the ceramics methodologies of the town of Chamba in Tolima, Colombia. To this end we lived with them for a few weeks, interchanging techniques of more traditional pottery methods, and the contemporary styles seen in the Bogota city.If you follow this link you can read some anecdotes about the experience and lessons we lived as a collective within the community of la chamba, specifically the experiences that we shared with the Beatriz, and her family – all traditional pottery makers.