1.
Founder's Journal
1.
The Hands Behind The Studio
A studio is shaped by the people who make in it.
We are a collective of ceramic artists working together in Raipur. While each of us brings a distinct way of seeing and shaping clay, our studio serves as a shared sanctuary for continuous making, experimentation, teaching, and learning.
We believe that art is a conversation. It is this ongoing, quiet exchange between diverse perspectives, hands-on processes, and raw materials that continually breathes life into our space and defines C.I.C.O. as a living practice
2.
The first encounter with clay.
I didn't begin with the intention of becoming a ceramicist.
While working on my architectural thesis, I came across kavelu, terracotta roof tiles found in Indian architecture. I was drawn to the material — its earthiness, texture, and the way earth, dust and water could become part of a structure.
That curiosity stayed with me. I began spending more time with clay, learning its temperament and what it asked of me. Architecture continued to shape how I looked at it, bringing form, structure and function into the process.
Over time, clay became less something I tried to control and more something I learnt to listen to.
2.
3.
The years of practice.
Once I knew I wanted to understand clay, I began learning it one process at a time.
In 2016, I spent time at Clay Station in Bangalore learning hand-building, followed by wheel work at Andretta in Himachal Pradesh. Later, I travelled to Mumbai to learn glazing with Sandeep Manchekar.
Each place introduced me to a different way of working with clay. I began understanding its temperament — how it responds to pressure, moisture, movement and time.
I continue to learn through practice and experimentation. For me, working with clay is less about mastering it and more about learning how to work with it.
3.
4.
4.
The beginnings of C.I.C.O.
C.I.C.O. began in 2017, with clay at the centre of what we wanted to explore. The name — Clay In, Clay Out — came to hold something simple for us: a practice that begins with earth and finds its way into form.
Today, we are a collective of women ceramic artists working from Raipur, making functional ware, decoratives, planters and other ceramic forms.
Our practice is shaped by earth, fire, water and air, as well as the environment around us. Over the years, the studio has grown through custom work, collaborations, teaching and experimentation.
5.
Satori Residency
A change of place can change the way you look at things.
During my residency at Satori Studio in Uttan, Mumbai, I spent a lot of time looking at the landscape around me — the hill, the beach, the stones and corals.
I began thinking about how these textures could be translated into clay. That led me to experiments with ceramic stone, fragments, layers and Raku firing, while the forms of corals became starting points for tabletop pieces.
Sometimes, stepping away from the studio is what allows the work to move somewhere new.
5.
6.
Small observations from the studio.
Take a piece of clay in your hands, and it can seem almost unremarkable at first. Earth, dust and water, waiting to be worked.
Press into it, and it gives. Push too far, and it resists. Add water, and it softens; begin shaping, and it starts to hold form.
Working with clay is as much about paying attention as it is about technique. You learn to notice its moisture, movement and resistance, and the small changes that happen as you work.
Perhaps that is why making with clay can feel less like imposing a form and more like finding one
6.
7.
7.
Indian Ceramic Art Foundation
Architecture has never really left my practice.
My participation in the ICAF Juried Member Exhibition at Kanoria Art Centre, Ahmedabad, in 2025 brought that connection back into focus. The exhibition, themed Art in Architecture, created a space where I could look at the relationship between the two disciplines again — something that has quietly informed the way I think about form, structure and space since I first began working with clay.
8.
Auroville Art Ehibition
There is something special about seeing ceramic work outside the studio.
In 2023, I was a part of Auroville’s Potters Art Exhibition, curated by Supriya Menghati. I presented a two-piece sculpture series, including Armour Pod — a work that looks at germination, growth and the struggle that comes with becoming.
It was an opportunity to let the work exist on its own, away from the process and the space where it was made.
8.
1.
Founder's Journal
The Hands Behind The Studio
A studio is shaped by the people who make in it.
We are a collective of ceramic artists working together in Raipur. While each of us brings a distinct way of seeing and shaping clay, our studio serves as a shared sanctuary for continuous making, experimentation, teaching, and learning.
We believe that art is a conversation. It is this ongoing, quiet exchange between diverse perspectives, hands-on processes, and raw materials that continually breathes life into our space and defines C.I.C.O. as a living practice
2.
The first encounter with clay.
I didn't begin with the intention of becoming a ceramicist.
While working on my architectural thesis, I came across kavelu, terracotta roof tiles found in Indian architecture. I was drawn to the material — its earthiness, texture, and the way earth, dust and water could become part of a structure.
That curiosity stayed with me. I began spending more time with clay, learning its temperament and what it asked of me. Architecture continued to shape how I looked at it, bringing form, structure and function into the process.
Over time, clay became less something I tried to control and more something I learnt to listen to.
3.
The years of practice.
Once I knew I wanted to understand clay, I began learning it one process at a time.
In 2016, I spent time at Clay Station in Bangalore learning hand-building, followed by wheel work at Andretta in Himachal Pradesh. Later, I travelled to Mumbai to learn glazing with Sandeep Manchekar.
Each place introduced me to a different way of working with clay. I began understanding its temperament — how it responds to pressure, moisture, movement and time.
I continue to learn through practice and experimentation. For me, working with clay is less about mastering it and more about learning how to work with it.
4.
The beginnings of C.I.C.O.
C.I.C.O. began in 2017, with clay at the centre of what we wanted to explore. The name — Clay In, Clay Out — came to hold something simple for us: a practice that begins with earth and finds its way into form.
Today, we are a collective of women ceramic artists working from Raipur, making functional ware, decoratives, planters and other ceramic forms.
Our practice is shaped by earth, fire, water and air, as well as the environment around us. Over the years, the studio has grown through custom work, collaborations, teaching and experimentation.
5.
Satori Residency
A change of place can change the way you look at things.
During my residency at Satori Studio in Uttan, Mumbai, I spent a lot of time looking at the landscape around me — the hill, the beach, the stones and corals.
I began thinking about how these textures could be translated into clay. That led me to experiments with ceramic stone, fragments, layers and Raku firing, while the forms of corals became starting points for tabletop pieces.
Sometimes, stepping away from the studio is what allows the work to move somewhere new.
6.
Small observations from the studio.
Take a piece of clay in your hands, and it can seem almost unremarkable at first. Earth, dust and water, waiting to be worked.
Press into it, and it gives. Push too far, and it resists. Add water, and it softens; begin shaping, and it starts to hold form.
Working with clay is as much about paying attention as it is about technique. You learn to notice its moisture, movement and resistance, and the small changes that happen as you work.
Perhaps that is why making with clay can feel less like imposing a form and more like finding one
7.
Indian Ceramic Art Foundation
Architecture has never really left my practice.
My participation in the ICAF Juried Member Exhibition at Kanoria Art Centre, Ahmedabad, in 2025 brought that connection back into focus. The exhibition, themed Art in Architecture, created a space where I could look at the relationship between the two disciplines again — something that has quietly informed the way I think about form, structure and space since I first began working with clay.
8.
Auroville Art Ehibition
There is something special about seeing ceramic work outside the studio.
In 2023, I was a part of Auroville’s Potters Art Exhibition, curated by Supriya Menghati. I presented a two-piece sculpture series, including Armour Pod — a work that looks at germination, growth and the struggle that comes with becoming.
It was an opportunity to let the work exist on its own, away from the process and the space where it was made.