Meet Urban Quarter’s Local Talents : Ep. Adinegara Ceramics
There’s always something special when shopping for a handmade decorative piece and the piece speaks a lot about the maker and the nature. Each season we come across new LOCAL makers and talents across Indonesia. Each maker offers unique offerings, from handmade to curated goods, and we are more than excited to introduce you to Reynold Adinegara, founder of Adinegara Ceramic.
Started as a therapeutic practice, a healing process where Reynold eventually discovered a career through his unique talent of pottery. What brought our attention when seeing his pieces were how Reynold was able to emphasize the natural color of the earth exuded in his ceramic pieces. Each piece balances between modern aesthetics and functionality.
We visited Reynold’s studio earlier and did a quick interview questioning about his experiences as a local maker and the stories behind his work. Read below!
- Tell us a bit about you and Adinegara Ceramic.
Hi I’m Reynold Adinegara from Adinegara Ceramic. Adinegara Ceramic is an artisan ceramicist mainly in ceramics which are handmade. All of our products are made solely by me and the company is managed by my wife and I.
Adinegara Ceramic was established around 2018, it first started as a coincident where it was just a workshop that turned into a hobby, where it also becomes a healing process for me and turned out becoming an actual business.
- What was your first creation?
My first creation was the set of tableware made during a workshop and it was kind of fun, I still have some of them, but some are broken.
- What is your signature creation and the inspiration behind it?
My signature creation is basically everything that I created, I want them to have a nature feelings on them. I don’t use too many glaze and I. like too emphasize the color of the clay, the earth, and where it came from. If I make decorative objects, I would create with a traditional accent and technique that emphasizes the natural color of the earth.
- What’s changing about the ceramics and the ceramics maker market in Indonesia? Where do you hope to see it go?
Currently, the ceramic makers in Indonesia are increasing, since people are starting to appreciate more and more of artisanal handmade products compared to years before. The market is bigger in terms of the ceramics industry and what I hope to see in the near future for our market is for each artisan to have their own identity on their ceramics.
What we see now here is that there are various styles that people go to, from Japanese style to Chinese style. You can easily spot the different styles like, “Oh, that’s from Japan, that’s from China, that’s from UK or from Europe”. You can see the different characteristics and styles and I wish that one day we can create our identity and have people say “Oh that’s Indonesian ceramics!”.
- We love your new studio, what was the inspiration for the aesthetic of this space?
For my studio, I first renovated it in order for the studio to be fully functional. It has to be very simple and easy to clean, and have everything “Japanese” touch to it.
- With the current pandemic going on, what has changed in your work life and what’s been the hardest and most rewarding thing during this period as a local maker?
Honestly speaking, this pandemic does not make any difference in my workflow as I have always been working from home. However, I feel like that there just more work from home.
I think the most change and the most rewarding thing during this pandemic is where I opened my new store in the beginning of the pandemic. It was very challenging but as time goes, it has been very smooth and rewarding too at the same time.
- What is your best piece of advice for future local makers looking to start their own business?
My advice is to always be kind, be honest and to make sure you really, really love what you’re doing. Never to stop yourself from improving as well.
- What’s next for Adinegara?
What I see next for Adinegara Ceramic is to see myself keep improving. I want to make and create something that can add more value to the products so each product can create value as well to the owner.
Find Adinegara Ceramic collection now at UrbanQuarter.com!
