Tammi Vilchis

Co-founder, ceramic artist and industrial designer

Tammi Vilchis (Thea) is a Mexican ceramic artist and industrial designer. Although she began her professional ceramic training in 2014 at the Fine Arts National Institute (INBA) in Mexico City, it was a few years earlier, at “El Alfar” (Otumba, Mexico), where she began documenting and experimenting with clay and alternative firings with mentor and artist Don Alfonso Lopez. She has received diplomas in Sculpture (Academia de San Carlos), Innovation and Design Thinking (CEDIM), and Women and Gender Studies (UNWoman), among others. These teachings have a clear and strong influence on her approach to art.

Her body of work shows the many philosophies and techniques she has learned over the years. Her most recent pieces hold a deep symbolism, especially in the Mexica and Zapotec cultures, her ancestors. Thea’s work brings together contemporary ceramics and Mesoamerica pottery motifs. Public shows include Premio Nacional de la Cerámica (Tlaquepaque, Mexico), Bienal Internacional de Cerámica Artística Contemporánea, (Tijuana, México), Museo de Arte Popular (Mexico City) and many more.

In addition to maintaining a home studio, Thea is part of Burnaby’s Pottery Guild at Shadbolt Center for the Arts. She teaches ceramic classes to people of all ages at The ACT Maple Ridge, Bonsor Recreation Complex, and HED Ceramics in Vancouver.