From Architecture to Ceramics with Borja Moronta

Welcome to our Make Your Own Story feature, a series of interviews with makers where we delve into their fascinating stories about living and working in Scotland. We hope these stories will inspire you and spark new interpretations of craft.  

Borja Moronta is originally from Asturias, northern Spain but settled in Edinburgh in 2017. He began his pottery practice at the beginning of 2018, as part of a recovery process from a severe surgery due to nerve damage on his left hand. After enjoying evening classes at Edinburgh Ceramics Workshop, he soon became a member and eventually became part of their Incubator programme for emerging ceramicists in July 2019, going on to set up his own studio just a year later. 

Hello Borja. Could you tell us a little about your practice and what led you down this route? 

I'm a potter based in Edinburgh and I've been doing this for almost four years. Before that, I studied architecture back home in Spain at Madrid Polytechnic University. By the time I finished studying architecture, I was a bit tired of it. It’s such a long degree and it can be exhausting. I started working but I felt there was a huge difference between how you learn in architecture school - which is extremely creative, fun, pushes your boundaries and makes you think - and what it’s like to start in a practice. If you study medicine, you’re in a hospital straight away and working in something similar to what you've been studying and practicing. When you start working in architecture, there’s a lot of computer work, which for me was very dull and boring. I thought, this is not for me because I’m not a very techy person. I don't enjoy spending lots of time on the computer or looking at screens. It just felt very unnatural.  

Around the same time, I happened to lose feeling in my left hand. One of my nerves got trapped in between the bones, and I woke up with no feeling. I went to the doctor and after six months of trying to recover feeling, they decided that I needed surgery. I had surgery in my elbow to recover mobility and feeling in my hand, and that led me to more or less a year long recovery process. It was at this point that I decided I needed a fresh start, so I came to Edinburgh and settled here with my partner at the time, where I did various jobs that included less pressure and less responsibility. Then after that year, I decided to try ceramics, doing evening classes just for fun because I felt that I needed to do something creative. My brother, who is a physiotherapist, recommended that I try something that would push the strength of my hand a little, so I gave it a go. It started as a hobby but straightaway, there was something sort of magical in that first throwing session. I remember leaving without physical tightness; with a satisfactory feeling of – I'm tired, but I've had fun, and I'm relaxed. From that moment, I knew it was something very special, and I needed to learn more.  

You joined Edinburgh Ceramics Workshop and became part of their Incubator programme for emerging ceramicists in July 2019. Why was that an important part of your journey? 

I did my set of 20 lessons with the Edinburgh Ceramics Workshop and right after that, you could apply to become a regular member. And as I was going through the lessons, I was thinking, I really want to do more of this and to keep learning. The best way to continue learning was to just do it more often, so I joined as a member to keep practicing and having fun, and then suddenly a few sales and orders and commissions came through. At first, I never intended for this to be my way of living. I was a bit lost and finding my ground after giving up architecture and figuring out what to do. And I just remember I had so much fun doing this and it kind of developed organically. At some point in summer 2019, I got a couple of large commissions for Fhior and Spry Wines, both in Edinburgh. In the case of Spry, they commissioned me to do their whole collection of plates and dishes. I realised I needed to be more serious about this because I was enjoying it so much. When Alex from the Edinburgh Ceramics Workshop presented the Incubator programme to us, it was meant to give us a foundation to go from hobby potters to professional potters. The programme offered guidance when it came to finance and handling all the things that you don't really think you're going to need when you start, but if you want to do it professionally, you need to know.  

Image: Courtesy of Bora Moronta

Why were you drawn to setting up your own studio?