About Simone Azevedo
Statement
I am Simone yet I’ve been searching for my identity in so many ways.
It seems this is a common theme across people who moved to different countries or when you leave a job you’ve been doing for a very long time.
I checked both boxes.
Funny enough, I was “made in the US” yet born in Brazil. Years later, work brought me back to the US where I raised my family and became (again?) a US citizen.
I have always felt a deep connection to the US and one of the few memories of my childhood was the silver Christmas tree we had. We never had snow in Brazil, but Christmas was always a copy of the American holiday.
When I quit my corporate life, I started to ask who I was. I used to be the VP of this, VP of that. I was not retiring. I didn’t have a paycheck. “Friends” were too busy with work to have a coffee with me. I felt lost and lonely.
And then came the pandemic.
I lost my parents and my source of clues about my identity. So, I decided to go deeper into a journey to identify who I am.
I created my “Collecting Memories” throughout leaves, flowers and transforming them into pottery pieces. A process that helped me to accept today, think about the future, and care less about the past. Each one of these pieces represented feelings, even the darker ones. They also support my interest in preserving nature and our planet.
Now I know this journey is a constant. I love reinventing myself. I love learning new things, trying, exploring.
Even my artistic expression comes in cycles: during the cold season there’s a lot of embroidery, spring brings more watercolors, summer is summer, and all is possible. Ceramics are always around but the theme changes significantly.
I tried to convince myself to focus on just one thing. This is not who I am.
I am all of this.
And I’m happy with myself.
oubaitori {japanese}
The idea that people, like flowers, bloom in their own time and follow their own individual journeys; the acceptance of not comparing oneself to others, and focusing on one’s own uniqueness.
Biography
Simone always had a creative mind and did embroidery, knitting and crochet when growing up in Brazil.
Simone re-started exploring her creativity as an artist after taking hand-building ceramics lessons at the Community Kiln.
Since then, Simone has expanded her love for ceramics taking more classes and participating in local markets and more recently, her pieces got accepted to be part of an exhibition at the Umbrella Arts Center, at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and at the Higgins Gallery in Cape Cod.
Simone also works with embroidery where she explores more colors, patterns and integrating beads and ceramics into her work.
Simone works with watercolor, particularly inspired by nature and colors and while she favors abstract pieces, she has been practicing botanicals watercolor.
Nature has been a huge source of inspiration following Simone’s BS in Biology, particularly mushrooms, seashells, flowers and insects.
Simone spends her days working from her studio at home where she lives with her husband and two children.
Approach on Ceramic
When I started working with clay, I just wanted to try as much as possible. I did things I love, I did things that won’t matter anymore.
One thing became very clear to me: I love exploring and testing.
My pieces are, mostly, unique. I rarely make more than one piece although some ideas are more exciting and I am working in some collections with multiple pieces.
I am fascinated by the work done by Lucie Rie. There’s something special about what she did.
I am also very attracted to Japanese ceramics. The wabi-sabi aesthetic, focusing on natural beauty, imperfections, and organic forms have inspired me.
You will find this influences on some of my pieces where I incorporate modern finishes and eclectic elements, blending traditional and contemporary influences
