We met in 2015 in Lisbon at the Master’s degree in Painting we were both doing. Meanwhile, we started to share the same atelier, where each of us developed our individual art practices. This was a place of dialogue where we found out we had the same doubts and interests.

Our shared questions about the relations and boundaries between art and life, between the artistic and the useful object, between the roles of the artist and the artisan, and our concern about the commodification of life, time and art, led us to create a practical project where we could explore all these ideas. We started selling the pieces in markets and shops and, as the project evolved, we also began showing work in more experimental ways. Recently, we participated in a circuit of performances called Hors-Lits.

We think that it is very difficult to have a firm definition of what things are: useful or useless, art or crafts. We are interested in this dissolution of concepts, which we think keeps alive the strangeness and beauty of life and its objects. Maybe the middle point is this questioning state. One way of translating this into practice is the way we relate to our creation: we do a research of the original form and use of each piece, trying to make objects out of their obviousness and, simultaneously, we approach the creation as an experimental process, never repeating each piece.

We think it is important to find a balance between what is to come and the memories we want to keep alive. Crafts are a manual and slow way of working that joins generations and contradicts the fast pace of our contemporary lives. We always felt attracted to many techniques: carpentry, ceramics, blown glass, textile… While thinking about creating a project together, it became clear we needed to focus on one of them, and we chose ceramics to start. We learned it in Fica, a creative workshop in LxFactory where various crafts are taught.

Each of us builds different pieces and paints them regardless of who made them. Recently, we started to melt even more the process by building and painting together the same piece. Although there are differences in each way of working, our styles mix and feed each other. A key element of this process is being surprised by ourselves and by the oven!

Apart from Lugalbanda, each of us has a part-time job and we also develop our individual art practices.

To live here as a young artist is quite complicated: struggle with precarious jobs, high rents and very rare art fundings. Even though gentrification is transforming Lisbon, there are still many beautiful things to enjoy in this city: have a picnic in Jardim da Estrela, find a book in Feira da Ladra or have a coffee at Miradouro da Graça.

You can contact us directly via Instagram or e-mail, and you can also find our pieces in Lisbon at Bird on a Wire and in Porto at Senhora Presidenta, A Luz Natural and Ó Cerâmica gallery.

First of all, we want to continue learning ceramic so we can explore even more. Hopefully, in the future, we will learn other crafts and expand our project. We also want to invest more time writing and sharing our theoretical reflections. But, mainly, we would like this baby to continue growing as healthy as it was during its first year!