May Abboud

"After I graduated in the field of Fine Arts in 1967 from Beirut College for Women (now Lebanese American University), I began working with ceramics, and as soon as my hands touched the clay, I felt that I would achieve my dreams with it. I loved drawing and sculpting together. However, I felt that they were not meeting my need. Colors did not suffice for me in drawing nor shapes in sculpture. So I wanted to merge the two together. I made the shapes with clay and made them in the colors that I liked. When the Italian Cultural Institute offered me a grant to Florence, it was the perfect opportunity to delve deeper into the technical aspects of ceramics. So I enrolled in a specialized institute where I spent two years studying the different types of clay and glass composition. I was able to create close to a hundred chemical formulas that apply to all kinds of clays, from Kashagi to porcelain. Since I had carried twenty kilograms of Lebanese clay with me, I was able to apply my experiments to them immediately. I do not claim to have reinvented the wheel. What ancient people discovered is carried on through this day. The ceramic techniques are the same since their inception. From the primitive method to casting with a mold, through the method of coils, then the wheel, sculpture, and ceramic tiles. By making my pottery, I tried to revive this ancient, authentic art through it, so I made cups, sculptures and murals. I glazed them in earthy, desert, dark colors that matched their shapes. I feel that this work brings me closer to the ground and reminds me of what the ancients made."