Garance Lanfray, journey through Southeast Asia

In 2022, Brittany-based potter Garance Lanfray set off to explore Southeast Asia with one idea in mind: to continue learning and working with clay, wherever she might be. From Thailand to Vietnam via Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, she shares the discoveries, experiences, and meetings that marked her journey—an insightful journal combining pottery and magic.

My objective during this trip revolved around pottery,: I intended with all my heart to have the chance to get my hands dirty in every country we visited – to continue learning about the practice of pottery, which brings me so much joy. 🍀

When I arrived in Thailand, I had the chance to visit Ko Kret, a small island north of Bangkok known for its many traditional Burmese potters.

From the beginning of the trip, I tried to visit several villages known for their pottery. Unfortunately, in some places, pottery was no longer popular due to the COVID crisis…

We went to Klipoh on the island of Java. It seems that pottery has been practiced in this village since the 9th century and that expertise has been passed down from generation to generation. We visited several studios and I was able to get my hands back in the clay. What a joy!

The potters’ wheels here are operated manually. The craftswomen turn the wheel with one hand and use their other hand to shape the piece. Technically, it’s not at all easy!

It was great to see different techniques and ways of working with clay.

We were also told how the glazes are made using ingredients from naturally coloured plants and roots.

Traditionally, women are responsible for making and drying the pieces, while men take care of the firing (we also saw a woman doing this!).

I thought that the firing was done in a brick or clay kiln, but not at all, it isn’t even done in a kiln! The pieces are covered with straw and ash and fired for only 2 to 3 hours. I was very impressed.

I left with some small bowls, although I can’t guarantee that they’ll make it back to France in one piece!

Ceramic class with Malaysian artist Leong Chee Hsiung in Malacca: 

Mady and I also went to the river to collect some local clay.

We set up a small ceramics studio and did some tests.

The clay was a bit sandy, but we still managed to work with it!

It’s not easy using local clay, especially when it comes to firing, because we don’t really know what elements it’s made up of.

Luckily, my potter friend @echekillian was able to give me lots of valuable advice, and we finally managed to fire the first batch using the best means at our disposal, a barbecue.

How satisfying, and what a magical moment it was to retrieve our pieces after a completely natural process, from digging the clay to firing it: 

In the Philippines, we travelled thanks to the Workaway network, staying at the top of the highest mountain in Cebu, one of the Philippines’ islands.

In the heart of this incredible natural setting, we went on many hikes, and along the way I found some local clay that I collected so I could do a little pottery.

The architecture of the place where we were staying inspired me greatly: 

I also had the chance to visit the village of Bat Trang in Vietnam, which is world-renowned for the quality of its porcelain.

I saw many casting studios. Slip-casting is one of the techniques used by potters to produce a series based on the same piece.

A plaster mold is made from an original piece, and this mold is used to make several identical copies.

Here, porcelain is used in a liquid state called slip (a mixture of water and clay).

The potter fills the mold completely, waits for the plaster to absorb the moisture from the slip, and then collects the excess slip in a basin. A few minutes later, the mold can be opened and the piece retrieved. A magical moment! ✨

The slip was delivered directly to the studio by bulk liquid tanker: 

Screen printing is widely used here to decorate pottery. It allows the same pattern to be reproduced over and over again! Once the pattern has been printed on special paper, all that remains is to apply it to the pottery.

For very large pieces, this technique is not possible, and decorative paintings are done freehand. It was incredibly impressive to see the artists decorating these enormous vases with such skill and precision. These are the vases that can be seen in temples. I was so moved and happy to see, from behind the scenes, how these pottery pieces are made. I always find it very enlightening to visit studios: 

I also had the chance to try my hand at throwing porcelain in a studio. I had never thrown porcelain before. It’s a very soft clay, but I found it very enjoyable and it was great to get my hands back in the clay. 🤲🏼

It was a manual potter’s wheel. It’s not easy to create centrifugal force with one hand and throw with the other, but since I had already tried it several times in Indonesia, I didn’t do too badly. It was a magical day with pottery on every street corner! 🤩 :