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I came upon ceramics almost by accident.  It was the spring of 2016 in Paris and my project with Alejandro Jodorowsky was on hold.  We had just submitted a big proposal for a grant and awaiting news, and I decided to jump over to London in the meantime.  I rented a little basement apartment in the East End with a wonderful family that became my family.  Their home was a converted pub, the littlest pub in the East End.  After years of primarily working on this project with Jodorowsky, I suddenly had the mental and emotional space to work on my own art.  Next to the pub was a garden and in the garden was a community ceramics studio.  It was chaotic and loud, with an incredible mix of cultures and ages.  People were smoking and drinking wine and experimenting.  It was so packed that you couldn’t move without bumping into 5 people.  The man who taught me to throw on the wheel had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and could throw with one hand.  I threw myself into Ceramics that Spring and so enjoyed not knowing how to do anything properly.  Tapatio and Chips were some of the first pieces I made at that studio. 

Image by Tony Candelaria