THE B PLAN THAT WORKED OUT

So much living with art, cultural press officer finds himself potter in quarantine

In times of pandemic and social isolation, many people are reinventing themselves and rethinking their concepts, its relations with consumption, with art, With the life! Now, on the eve of Christmas and New Year's Eve, a difficult and atypical year, the unusual story of a press officer who has made news, can serve as inspiration.

Rodrigo Machado, publicist and press officer, is well known and loved in the cultural milieu in Brasilia. He has advised on projects and shows in the most diverse languages, always with great competence and sympathy.. For every job performed, Rodrigo expands the limits of his geography, gains space and increases its scope.

Since 2001, works with cultural dissemination in the city and in 2010 opened Território Comunicação, company specialized in cultural press relations. What few people know is that living with art so much, Rodrigo, ended up being hooked and in the middle of a pandemic, turned out to be a handful artist, a sensitive potter who is already among the city's talents, with invitations to present their work alongside renowned names in candango design, like Gabriela Tenório and Toninho Euzébio.

Rodrigo says that since he was a child he was always enchanted with art, participated in fanfare, did theater, took music lessons, but it was as a press officer that he improved his look and his sensitivity. Studies on high temperature ceramics began in 2019 and during quarantine, imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, decided to dedicate himself for real. He set up a small studio in his own apartment and let his imagination run free to create unique pieces and start the Ceramic sparer, brand whose signature is the creation of exclusive utilitarian and sculptural pieces.

“Contact with all aspects of the arts, through my profession, improved my look to make artistic and, certainly, flooded my imagery with images and emotions. I think these memories, that I also bring from childhood, somehow, come to light during my creative parts building processes. Working with ceramics took me on paths I didn't expect. It brought me tranquility and calm. When I'm producing, I feel present, I enjoy almost meditative moments and disconnect from everything else ”, explains the artist.

Rodrigo says that understanding the process of creating a piece, from clay modeling to completion (going through the drying times, first and second, burn, enameling), also taught him how to deal with time in another way. “Production processes require knowing how to deal with time and understanding the importance of each stage, everything requires attention and great care, which, in my opinion, it translates into affection and dedication. ”

Despite being at the beginning of his career, Rodrigo Machado already has a captive audience and has been standing out in the plastic arts and design scene in Brasilia. The dedication that he prints in his careful and personality-filled work, makes Esbarro Cerâmica's exclusive pieces a differential when it comes to gifting or decorating the house. The invitations to exhibit and participate in fun fairs keep coming and many artists and cultural producers in the city insist on extolling the versatility and talent of the young ceramist.

“Affective memories and aesthetics refine the manual creations sculpted by Rodrigo Machado. Its pieces reflect originality and refresh a growing market, where manual making meets contemporary inventiveness ”, says Patricia Herzog, curator of Brasilia Design Store.

“Rodrigo has always called my attention for his elegance in dressing, in the good taste of his home and for me he made his pottery the extension of that way of life, your pottery is elegant!”, Andréa Alfaia, ceramist.

“Rodrigo surprised me as a ceramist, each piece, in addition to a refined aesthetic and utilitarian sense, carries good doses of poetry and invention that make us want them all in some corner of our house. Difficult to choose one!”, Alessandra Roscoe, writer.

“Esbarro Cerâmica enchants the eyes with the diversity and organic forms that it always exhibits in its niche here in our collaborative store.. Rodrigo brought lightness and joy to our community ”, Elizia Corrêa, curator of Picnik Collab.

“It is rich and exciting to follow a person’s discovery and transformation processes through the arts. What I feel about Rodrigo's work is this – it's revelation, is artistic production growing organically and naturally, where the commitment is not to the market, but about drawing new perspectives on life and the creative potential that unfolds when you love what you do ”, Ezio Evy, stylist.

When talking about your creative process, Rodrigo reveals that he always starts from intuition, of what you feel when you start a new piece. “My process starts from what I'm feeling at the moment and, In some cases, of the paths that open from manual contact with clay, your temperature, texture, elasticity and moisture. Contact with clay brought me closer to topics like sustainability, something even natural, since making pottery involves harmony, cooperation and invites us to respect and admire the 4 vital elements: ground, water, air and fire. ”

After turning the hobby into passion and, in quarantine, passion in profession, Rodrigo now makes plans. Plans to move the studio to a larger space, as soon as the purchased oven arrives and prepares a new catalog of pieces with an eye on Christmas and bet on the transformations that the pandemic has also brought about in the ways of consuming. “A lot of people are rethinking how to be more conscious when it comes to spending their money and if they can give as gifts, support a city artist and move the local economy at the same time, will prefer this option when buying on large networks and websites ”. Despite everything bad and sad that this pandemic brought, isolation has also changed behaviors and in a positive way.