Featured Artist: Marina Van Raay

Visit the Craft Ontario Queen Shop to explore this featured body of work by Marina Van Raay! On display in the Feature Window from January 31 to March 2, 2025, this collection includes vivid, dripping glazes, and nerikomi sculpture.

Click here to see the collection available on the Online Shop!

Playing in the Craft Ontario Shop windows on Queen street from January 31 - March 2 are works from a collection of ceramics by Marina Van Raay. Marina is a Canadian-Japanese emerging ceramic artist based in Hamilton, Ontario. Marina comes from a family of potters and has gained a deep appreciation for craftsmanship and artistic expression. Marina was born in Japan and moved to Canada at the age of 5 and through her work, explores the cultural experiences that have shaped her life.

Marina was born in Japan and moved to Canada at the age of 5. Through her work, she explores the cultural experiences that have shaped her life. She explores her relationship with nostalgia through design, process, and decoration, evoking childhood feelings of innocence and optimism. 

Embracing play as a design method, Marina aims to capture its essence as she creates, embellishes and decorates throughout the making process, incorporating additional elements both before and after the glaze firing. Extending the act of making in this way invites a sense of play and freedom, as she picks and chooses from a variety of charms and chains, made from glaze and stained clay. Marina enjoys experimenting with unconventional clay and glaze techniques such as gloop and crawl glazes. 

I experiment with the possibilities of nerikomi, approaching the technique in a free and fluid way that reflects the organic nature of my creative process. I slice patterns and gently press them onto hand built forms, intentionally leaving the impressions of my fingerprints. This deliberate loose connection between the nerikomi clay and the piece result in superficial cracks with I happily encourage and embrace. 

After years of working on the wheel, I discovered a passion for handbuilding, which quickly became my primary focus. I began with coil building and was captivated by the slow process and the textures left by my fingerprints. The technique drew me in because of my love for vessels—specifically, creating large, voluminous forms with small bases. Creating these forms using coils gave me a different experience than when created on the wheel. Moving forward, I’m eager to continue exploring handbuilding by experimenting with other forms and techniques, such as slab building and sculpting. I also want to further develop my nerikomi work and push the boundaries of what I can create.

I enjoy incorporating other materials into my work, which began with experimenting with epoxy and wire. The idea of continuing to work on a piece after firing fascinated me—I loved that the piece wasn’t truly finished when it came out of the kiln. This allowed me to keep decorating and experimenting, extending the creative process. I want to continue experimenting using other material in my work, such as ribbons and lace. There’s something exciting about combining the strength of a ceramic base with these softer, more decorative elements, creating a balance between structure and embellishment.

My daydreams often revolve around my childhood—specific memories, smells, and emotions. Nostalgia, with all its complexity, fuels my practice as I continue to explore themes rooted in my cultural experiences. I feel like this journey has been deeply impactful on my work and as an artist, but there’s still so much left to uncover and so much I want to express. Nostalgia is both comforting and confusing to me, evoking joy, comfort, and longing all at once. Vivid, saturated colors remind me of childhood curiosity, excitement, and optimism, while pastel tones often evoke a longing for the past. These emotional qualities are what I aim to explore and express through my work."

Marina draws inspiration from her admiration of Japanese pop culture, particularly the maximalism of 2000’s Harajuku culture. Characterized by a vibrant and eclectic mix of styles, this culture's emphasis on excessive adornment with an abundance of accessories influence her decorative approach. The fearless embrace of bold colours, mash-up of different aesthetics, and the art of layering elements are just a few features of the Harajuku culture that she is drawn to. Through her work, she explores the potentials of excessive decoration, collaging, embellishing, and the fusing of styles. The creative boldness and willingness to push the boundaries of conventional style are just a few of the characteristics that Marina tries to emulate in her approach to making.