Sanika Divekar
Sanika Divekar is an architect and ceramicist based in Bath, UK. Originally from Mumbai, her practice is deeply influenced by the city’s dynamic urban landscape and her Indian heritage. Her work explores the intersection of material memory, environmental transformation, and human impact, often using clay as a narrative tool. She works with wild clay, foraged matter, and industrial waste, creating ceramic vessels that reflect the tension between permanence and impermanence. Sanika’s work blends traditional forms with contemporary concerns, encouraging reflection on the evolving relationship between people, materials, and the Earth.
This body of work explores how ceramics can serve as carriers of memory, transformation, and environmental commentary. The vessels are inspired by Plastiglomerates, new types of stone formed by the fusion of melted plastic and natural sediment, highlighting the blurred boundaries between the organic and synthetic in the Anthropocene.
Using wild clay sourced from my surroundings and embedding it with both natural and manmade debris, I create forms that carry visual and tactile traces of human interaction. The process involves tearing, stitching, and layering surfaces, mimicking the slow erosion and reconstruction seen in natural landscapes.
The vessel form is influenced by the traditional Indian Matka, a clay water pot symbolizing life, purity, and resilience. Reinterpreted through contemporary materials and processes, these altered pots become modern relics-bearing the scars of environmental impact while also speaking to cultural continuity. These vessels serve as contemplative objects, linking past and future landscapes through material memory.
Project Gallery
