Tara Sao
The Melbourne ceramic artist on finding a language in clay, making sculpture from within and the pull between intuition and function.
Tara working on a large sculptural form in the studio. Photography: Michelle Li
IN CONVERSATION
Clay, touch and the female gaze
01
Who are you, and how did you first come to clay?
I am a clay sorceress who first came to clay when a wheel-and-wine video came onto my feed and I got my brother a voucher to do it with his wife. While there, I thought life was a bit dull, so why not enrol in a term?
That was in 2018, and since then I became a pottery studio assistant, built a tableware business and am now an exhibiting sculptor. I am now fluent in clay, where the material and my hands just speak to each other without ever uttering a word. It's a reminder that you can develop a new language at any time, and there is still so much to explore.
Tara working clay by hand on a timber studio table. Photography: Michelle Li
02
What are you working on in the studio at the moment?
Expanding my sculptures of the female form with greater expression and movement. I keep evolving how sculptures can be more alive and capture the essence of being a living poem.
03
Could you choose one work and tell me what started it?
My experience starting the work all feels like a fever dream. One that explores the internal architecture of the female gaze. I absolutely love Lovedrunk. I wanted to create a piece that displayed the female form away from the historical construction of purity and male desirability, but rather what it means to inhabit a body from within. Celebrating the female form through the female gaze.
I've seen some men walk past my work at exhibitions and shake their heads. But that's okay. I want my work to make an impact. Love it, hate it, whatever, but feel something.
Lovedrunk, 2026. Photography: Kieran Waugh
04
Why ceramics? What does clay let you do that no other material does?
The language of touch. In a world of visual noise, it's an anchor to what it means to be human.
Tara shaping a large pale ceramic form by hand. Photography: Michelle Li
05
How does a piece take shape, and what still surprises you when you open the kiln?
Everything I do is intuitively driven: an impromptu feeling or a lingering hunger that directs me to create with recklessness or glacial elegance. There is no in between.
What surprises me when I open the kiln is the strength of clay. Every time, I marvel at its ability to form a solid structure that will last forever.
06
How is making tableware different from making sculpture, and what kinds of commissions are you open to?
I am open to commissions where the dialogue we have is represented in the work, either tableware or sculpture. Both excite me. The process for both is entirely different. Tableware is about function and form with technical repetition as a learnt skill. Sculpture is intuitive and every piece tells a different story.
07
Where can people see your work next, and what's the best way to enquire or buy?
I am in current talks about exciting upcoming projects. My work can be purchased at Red Gallery. For commissions, shoot me an email at tara.x.sao@gmail.com, follow me on Instagram and subscribe to my mailing list for updates.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
From clay to sculpture
Tara Sao is a Melbourne ceramic artist whose practice spans sculpture and tableware. She began working with clay in 2018 and welcomes private commissions in both.
Originally published on artfairs.com.au
