Ceramicist Olivia Barry Looks to the Past for Present Designs

As a designer and an artist, Olivia Barry merges the problem-solving aspects of industrial design with a deep connection to materials and the making of things with her own hands. The child of an architectural engineer father and a painter mother, she believes this is in her DNA. She also possesses a fierce determination. “The first thing I did after graduating college in Michigan was drive to New York and look for a job,” which, it being the pre-Internet era, entailed writing a letter to—and getting hired by—furniture designer Dakota Jackson. Seven years later, Barry took the same tack with the legendary ceramicist Eva Zeisel, with whom she worked for over a decade up until her death in 2011 at age 105. Along the way, Barry made pottery commissioned by Crate & Barrel, Elizabeth Roberts Architects, and Tsao & McKown, among others.

Today, Olivia Barry/By Hand, the name of her studio and first lighting collection, soft-launched at Field + Supply last fall, officially debuted during ICFF at Wanted Design in May, and won a NYCxDesign Award. From her Hudson Valley studio, she tells us about the journey.

ID: What was that like working with Dakota Jackson?

OB: I was 22 and it was my first job, so I didn’t know what to expect. The studio was adjacent to the factory. I was able to see everything being made right there. If you design something on a computer and you send the specs to a factory far away, it’s a different process. But working with Dakota was very hands on.

ID: Can you describe a typical day with the late Eva Zeisel?

OB: We would work in her living room in her country house. She was very pas­sionate and had a lot of energy. She had clients like Nambé commissioning pieces she needed help with, so I would translate her sketches into working drawings. Another project was a stainless-steel flatware set for Crate & Barrel, which we first made of balsa wood using a Dremel, passing it back and forth. Because of her limited eyesight, I would start carving based on drawings, then she’d feel it and we’d talk about it. Then I’d continue carving.

ID: Tell us about your round pieces.

OB: For my Tondos, which is a renaissance term for a circular work of art derived from the Italian rotondo, I wanted to take clay off the table and put it on the wall, a kind of clay painting. I use pigments to tint the clay and blend different colors together using a slab roller. I also do a metallic glaze, which reflects light and movement, but the image isn’t crisp, like a mirror. And they can be wired with lighting.

ID: What’s the idea behind your Scroll series?

OB: I don’t love lampshades. So I gave myself a problem-solving question: Could I design a lamp out of clay that didn’t need a shade? For the Luminaire, which comes as a lamp or sconce, I came up with a scroll shape, where the body is a sheet of clay and the bulb is hidden inside, and the clay can be tinted.

ID: What’s next?

OB: I’m working on a special set of Luminaires for Rue IV in Washington. The pieces will be available in all white, as well as in a custom palette for the showroom.