Pratima Kramer

Pratima's contemporary ceramic sculpture are inspired by her cultural heritage. She spent her formative years in a school, based on Mahatma Gandhi's principles, in Gujarat, India, where she gained deeper understanding and respect for all handmade crafts.  Gujarat has a very long history of traditional crafts of textiles, embroidery, sculptures and wood carving. Her passion for art and craft never left her and so while working as a Microbiologist, she studied St Martins and Camberwell to acquire technical skills.   For her, Ceramic combines all that she loves - working with hands, painting, vibrancy, colour, texture, patterns and design. Pratima says “My intimate experience of rich and vibrant Indian life informs my craft practice. I start my sculptures with basic ideas and my emotion would lead the way.  It’s homage to all the crafts practices. “Paper clay is very forgiving and terracotta gives that earthy feeling that I am looking for. I don't glaze my work as it takes away from that dusty feeling.” Pratima explains. The sculptures are then decorated with underglazes, fired to higher earthenware temperature in an electric kiln. Once the firing is finished, they are embellished with gold leaves and mixed media. Each piece is unique and individually made and forms part of the collection of works. Pratima's sculptures embody memories of people, animals and places she encounters. Her figurative sculptures have hint of western influence from western masters such as Giacometti, Modigliani and Gauguin name a few. Each figurative sculpture is given a unique traditional name after some contemplation. Her elephant sculptures are imbued with emotion of love and gentleness but there is a hint of sadness as they are often subject to butchery and cruelty.  Pratima raises funds for Wildlife SOS and Chester Zoo, as she has become concerned about the dwindling numbers of their population due to our greed and cruelty. Pratima’s work can be seen in various galleries throughout the UK  and at some ceramic fairs.