Lebanese artist Hala Matta’s work is a blend of traditional craftsmanship and contemporary design. While rooted in Middle Eastern cultural heritage, her style reflects a universal language that transcends time and borders as she draws inspiration from every culture she encounters during her travels.

Matta discovered her passion for ceramics after a long career in the corporate world. She developed a strong foundation in ceramics training with prominent ceramic artists Nathalie Khayat, Nevil Salha, and Samar Mogharbel. Later, when Matta encountered the Raku technique, an ancient Japanese firing technique, she was captivated by its unique effects, and embraced the imperfection and the beauty of spontaneous, natural results. Her fascination led her to eventually master it and adopt it into her new decorative pieces.

She finds joy in shaping the clay with her hands, but her deepest fulfillment comes from collaborating with local ironworkers and skilled artisans from various disciplines, entrusting them with her ceramic pieces to add their artistic touch and expertise. This joy and energy are most evident in her Untitled, 2022, Raku partition. Every aspect of this artwork embodies her artistic vision, commitment to collective effort and dedication to handmade techniques.

This room divider is made of iron rods and rotating ceramic pieces. Each piece, Raku fired, has its own distinctive surface, unpredictable crackles, smoky blacks and metallic hues. The movement of the pieces gives the rigid partition an overall dynamic structure that Matta finds exciting and playful. The rhythmic, repetitive arrangement evokes textile or fence patterns found in African, Middle Eastern, or Indigenous crafts, where utility and symbolism often coexist. Through this pattern of handmade pieces, Matta reflects on the discipline of repetition in artistic practices, and in ceramics in particular, as a way to develop the intelligence of the hand. Repetition builds perfection.