“Nostalgia: Painted Vessels” marks Chef Aleth Ocampo’s return to pottery with a collection of functional pieces that pay homage to nature, good food, and personal memories.
Aleth Ocampo’s Nostalgia: Painted Vessels at Aphro showcases her return to pottery. Inspired by the slow, unpredictable nature of clay, Ocampo has embraced the process of crafting functional, hand-painted pottery—plates, bowls, cups, vases, and more—adorned with nature-inspired imagery like flowers, fish, and vegetables.
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She took up Visual Communications at the College of the Holy Spirit in Mendiola for two years, before transferring to the University of the Philippines Diliman to complete her degree in Fine Arts with a major in Painting, where she trained under Roberto Chabet.
Artist and writer Emilio Aguilar Cruz was another of her mentors who also mentored her brother, historian and writer Ambeth Ocampo, in history and writing. They would draw and paint together, while enjoying good food, all three being gourmands and Francophiles. Cruz introduced her to Romulo Galicano, who took her in as his apprentice. From him she learned color mixing and was exposed to an excellence in drawing, painting and sculpting in the classical style. Ocampo would work with potter Pablo Capati III at his Batangas studio, where she met other potters from Australia, Singapore, Japan and Thailand. Some of her works are fired at the kiln of Jon and Tessy Pettyjohn, whose pottery she has been collecting and using since the 1980s.
Primarily using the hand building method, Ocampo sculpts functional vessels she had painted on. She carves outlines for under glaze paints that would be added later in the process. Another layer of glaze ensures that the vessels can be used for serving food; hence creating art pieces that can be part of one’s daily rituals. Figures in the oriental style have been evident even in her early paintings: a series of teacups from her mother’s collection, a series of vintage cigarette labels from her brother’s collection, tarot cards and exotic flowers. Today, Ocampo paints and sculpts from images that surround her: vegetable forms, koi, and lily pads from her pond, the colors always bright and happy.
Ocampo’s work in pottery progressed in periods over several decades. Her initial experience in the 1980s was at the studio of Lanelle Abueva, where she first learned the pinch method and throwing clay on the wheel. In 2005, she continued her training with Capati, who taught her more hand building techniques, and then with another potter – Joey de Castro. It was a collaborative project with de Castro where she learned how to draw and etch on clay plates and apply liquid colored clay inlay—a tedious process with beautiful results.
Over the years, Ocampo’s works were exhibited at Finale Art File, Artinformal, Aphro, BenCab Museum and Museo Iloilo. Ocampo really is a chef by profession. Her time is spent in the kitchen and creating art. Her recent focus in pottery is with the goal to create vessels for her food and provide private dining guests with the full experience of taste, scent and visual delight in plating with ceramic art.
Each piece in this show reflects Ocampo’s ongoing journey as an artist, allowing the work to emerge organically without a rigid theme. The individual series are named after women who have influenced her, such as Nelia’s Vegetable Plates and Celeste’s Wildflowers.
Through this collection, Ocampo celebrates the beauty of everyday objects while honoring personal memories and the art of patience, experimentation, and growth.
Aphro is located at the Karrivin Plaza, 2136 Chino Roces Avenue, Makati City. Call (02) 87773116 for inquiries.
Photos courtesy of Aleth Ocampo.
