lisa legain

Sharing some pics of collected buffs, rectangle edition 🟦 Some of them being very clean while others are more of an approximation I guess. They all share the love for straight lines and orthogonality though 🫶🏻 because graffiti = chaos while rectangles = order and control. And we love order and control!!1! I feel like this is the most common way to buff where I live in Germany (next to etching with acid or tools) which is a bit sad. Don't get me wrong I love a good old rectangle but I tend to be jealous when I get to see the creativity of buff in other places. Still I feel like there is some poetry in arranging them next to one another. When you look close they all have their own character. What is your favourite rectangle?

Random scraps of paper piling up in corners over the years Spring is here — and with it, that sudden urge to clean, sort, and rediscover. I rarely work on loose sheets because I never quite know what to do with them. Store them in boxes, I guess? Just as storing thoughts in a notebook or recordings on a phone.

Sneak peek of some upcoming work — we survived the grey winter days by playing around with bright colors and building these dreamy worlds with our four little hands. As you can tell there was a lot of darkness to overcome. Would you move in?

2025 was the year of diagnosis, and being sick while self-employed — aka no work, no money — was quite a challenge. Still, it was heartening to see how much unfolded: lots of painting/drawing/writing, lots of crafting together. Not much solo ceramics practice, but somehow still a whole lot of cups in a very short time. New places, new faces, too. Grateful for everyone who showed up, connected and shared moments with me this year. For what’s next, I’m wishing for time and energy to experiment again — and to keep nurturing shared creative spaces. Feels like we're going to need them more than ever.

An attempt to communicate the ambivalence of the last weeks spent in the studio. On one side the profound beauty of repetition and craft – drinking tea all day long and thinking about colors and listening to either my thoughts or the radio and doing things with my little hands... On the other side the chaos and stress that come with making a living out of it – managing everything else that is not craft while navigating inertia/time blindness/sleep attacks while processing disastrous politics... What a luck to have community in these weird times 💚 and new meds that seem to work 🌀

Tracing the lines and shapes of Lisa Legain, we introduce their work with you: In their ceramic work, Lisa Legain devotes themselves to the cup as an everyday companion—an object that carries moments of pause. What fascinates them about porcelain is its willfulness and ambivalence: the softness of its first touch, and the hardness and durability after firing. They keep the traces of shaping intentionally visible—subtle indentations, gentle asymmetries that invite hands and lips to explore. Their motifs are inspired by everyday marks: patched asphalt roads, cracks in buildings, scratches, patina… and by the forgotten objects in a thrift hall that quietly tell stories of use and memory. — In deren keramischen Arbeit widmet sich Lisa Legain dem Becher als alltäglichem Begleiter – einem Objekt, das Momente des Innehaltens trägt. An Porzellan fasziniert Lisa die Eigenwilligkeit und die Ambivalenz: die Weichheit der ersten Berührungen, die Härte und Beständigkeit nach dem Brand. Die Spuren des Formens bleiben bewusst sichtbar: feine Vertiefungen, leichte Asymmetrien, die Hände und Mund erkunden. Die Motive sind inspiriert von Spuren aus dem Alltag wie geflickte Asphaltstraßen, Risse in Häusern, Kratzer, Patina... oder auch von den Ladenhütern einer Trödelhalle, die stille Geschichten von Gebrauch und Erinnerung erzählen.

Look at this cute porcelain cup in cortado/flat white size with a background that could be some abstract latte art :–) As an occasional coffee drinker who mostly improvised with a moka pot at home, I never paid much attention to standard cup sizes. Things changed over time, I was diagnosed with narcolepsy and learned how helpful caffeine – especially from coffee – can be for getting tasks done. I used to think I was lazy or strange because writing emails – or written communication in general – took so much effort that I couldn’t keep up with the amount of interaction expected, whether for work or with friends. I'm writing this while sitting in a café, buzzing on caffeine, and it still took me an hour to put these words together and it still feels like complete oversharing. Back to the porcelain cup: I started making these in three different sizes, cortado/cappuccino/americano. Not sure if I’ll keep the coffee names or stick to classic S/M/L? M/L/XL? Something else? Anyway. They’re my most personal cups so far and I really enjoy making them. Each one is unique in shape and drawing so I’d rather not sell them online. If you run a small shop/café/pop up store and got interested, feel free to reach out.

recent drawings

august dump lots of greens in the beginning, pink and red in the end, some yellow inbetween. also faces (always).

plates for loved ones everytime I want to play with coloured clay on slabs I end up making plates. because I like the flat format of slabs and its similarity to paper but I really dislike further steps of slab building. so plates it is. not for sale :–)

Gave markets a chance again last june and I survived it without any panic attack 👀 Find me next sunday at the @maljamjumble market with a very similar set up (still not in my comfort zone but slowly learning how to deal with the awkwardness of selling)

another zine for a another loved one crafted during a workshop in january with different black paper from old magazines it's about communication and being playful and silly