AN INTERVIEW WITH MELLA SHAW
Mella Shaw is an award-winning contemporary ceramic artist crafting objects and installations that explore balance, tipping points, and environmental consciousness. Her latest exhibition, Sounding Line, delves into the impact of sonar pollution on whales. We visited Mella in her Edinburgh studio to learn more.
Can you tell us about your path into ceramics?
I’m an artist activist using clay to make installations and objects. My background is in Anthropology, and I spent 15+ years managing exhibition programmes at institutions like the V&A and The Fitzwilliam Museum. I struggled to find a creative outlet until I enrolled in a ceramics diploma at City Lit, which led to an MA in Ceramics and Glass at the RCA in 2013. Seven years ago, I returned to Edinburgh, where I now combine my ceramics practice with teaching and curation. My work aims to present environmental issues in ways that ignite wonder and emotional engagement.
How have your themes evolved over time?
I work concept-first, choosing materials and processes to fit each idea. Although my projects look different, recurring motifs include balance and the moment when stability gives way to disorder. Clay’s inherent transformation—from soft to ceramic—mirrors themes of change, longing and loss. Today, my focus is increasingly on the climate crisis and our collective tipping point.
What inspired Sounding Line?
Sounding Line is a large-scale ceramic installation and film exploring sonar pollution’s effect on deep-diving whales. I created my own clay using bone ash from a beached Northern bottlenose whale, echoing how bone china is made. Sculptures based on whales’ tiny inner-ear bones are wrapped in red marine rope, which vibrates with real sonar recordings. Visitors feel these pulses through touch, echoing the whales’ experience.
Tell us about your research trip to the Hebrides.
In July 2022, I visited South Uist to look for whale bones. We came across an entire minke whale carcass—eerie and otherworldly. Later, we found a perfect skull in the sand. The moment was awe-inspiring and deeply sad, connecting me viscerally to the project. Patterns in the sand, like anatomical etchings, also influenced the forms I made back in the studio.
How did you make the sculptures?
Using the whale bone clay, I hand-built the large, hollow forms inspired by 1–2cm inner-ear bones, scaling them up through coiling. They have no set base, allowing them to sit in any orientation—a central aspect of my practice. Some are so big and heavy it takes three people to move them.
Was using whalebone symbolic or practical?
Both. Like bone china, the clay is strong yet fragile, reflecting how whales are majestic in water but vulnerable on land. This tension mirrors their plight—protected yet threatened by human-made sonar and climate change.
How does Sounding Line bring it all together?
The exhibition combines the ceramic installation and a film of me returning an unfired clay form to the sea, where it dissolved. Funded by Creative Edinburgh and Creative Informatics, the project is a consciousness-raising exercise. Because the clay includes protected whalebone, I can’t sell the pieces, which feels fitting. Historically, images of beached whales symbolised disaster—an unsettling parallel to our current ecological crisis.
For more information:
Instagram @mellamine