Report from NYC: Pamela Sunday

"A hobby that consumed my life" is how Pamela Sunday describes the exquisite ceramic sculptures she makes in the studio in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn that she cycles to every day. Her iconic pieces have been embraced by the interior design world here in the U.S. and as far afield as India, Japan and Singapore.

Pamela studied economics and math at college, did a stint working on Wall Street, and then became a stylist and art director at Bergdorf Goodman. She discovered she loved clay while taking a class with some colleagues. "We decided to try different classes after work instead of going for drinks," she said.

She's been at it full-time for eight years, during which her style has refined itself into a bold, highly crafted expression of her love for natural forms. Her current work was inspired by microscopic forms such as plankton and algae.

Pamela often uses metallic glazes fired to a high temperature. The result resembles metal more than clay.

"I'm working on the edge of my materials," she said. She works very methodically, labouring over her pieces for weeks sometimes.


While some pieces are lustrous and glossy, others have a more matt texture. "I play mad scientist with the chemicals," Pamela explained while showing me the different kilns she bakes her pieces in.


The beauty of her pieces to me is that they evoke so many different kinds of forms. Many of her orbs look like intergalactic objects.


"Everything starts with an orb and then I either add or subtract elements," she said.

Pamela is experimenting with oval forms now, so watch her website for updates on those. And read about her husband Paul Sunday's paintings on my own blog here.