BELLY BOTTLE III

Artist-ceramicist Jaume Roig (b. 1981 in Mallorca, Spain) lives and works on the Island of Mallorca off Eastern Spain. A second-generation ceramicist, Roig learned the craft from his mother while growing up in her studio. The artist has since developed his own vocabulary along with a growing body of work in both ceramic and painting. Roig’s sculptural vessels and organic shapes offer an intimate and modern take on the region’s ancestral ceramic tradition, its cultural heritage and artistic legacy.

Initially drawn to sculpture, Roig’s practice highlights figurative forms. His sculptural vessels and site-specific installations are inspired by ancient modes of expression dating back to cave paintings. Central to his artistic perspective is the notion of simplifying forms found in nature to their most essential core. In the natural surroundings of Ses Salines, in the south of Mallorca, Jaume finds the necessary elements for his work, be it the stones, the telluric landscapes, the faults of the sea, or the neutral colors.

The pared-down forms result from the artist's nearly 30 years of experimenting with the material. Little to no use of ceramicists’ tools or glazing highlights the integrity of the material and artisanal dexterity consistent throughout Roig’s body of work.