Hello

I am Elycia Castaneda, an Indigenous Ceramics Artist based in Brooklyn, New York. Since the start of my relationship with clay as a teen, I have cultivated a ceramics practice using both hand-building and wheel throwing to create tableware, cookware, and sculptural works. I continuously dedicate myself to intensive classes and immersive experiences that have deepen my practice and skills.

I spend time each year in New Mexico learning the ceramic traditions of my Apache ancestors. Specifically, the art of Micaceous Cooking Vessels. There, I have learned the entire process: from collecting and processing clay to creating and pit firing the finished vessels. I also travel biannually to Dartmouth, Massachusetts, to fire with Chris Gustin in his Wood Fire kiln. Alongside 25 incredible ceramicists, we spend seven days and nights as a community feeding the fires until the kiln reaches temperatures over 2000 degrees.

These experiences have revealed my love for unpredictable finishes. Whether wood firing or pit firing, the results are always unknown, shaped by variables like wind, temperature, and natural occurrences. For me these processes have become a co-creative dance with the Earth.

My practice centers on that co-creative dance. From beginning to end, I listen to the clay, creating not only what I envision, but what the material yearns to become. I craft each piece to enrich daily life with beauty and intention. Every creation reflects my essence: my love of nature, spiritual beliefs, ancestry, and so much more.