Studio Esja
Studio Esja is a ceramic workshop based in Iceland, founded in 2025. We are a Matiass Preiss and Marta Preisa third and second generation of potters, not as a brand story, but as daily practice.
Our work is shaped slowly, by hand, in a landscape defined by basalt, wind, and silence. We make functional ceramics intended for everyday use, created with the same care one would give to an object meant to last a lifetime.
Three generations, one craft
Pottery is learned through the hands, not through words. My grandmother taught my parents. My parents taught me. The knowledge passes quietly, through watching, correcting, repeating. We work side by side in the same studio, each piece carrying the weight of what came before.
Rooted in Iceland
Our studio sits in Álafoss, surrounded by volcanic rock and open sky. The landscape here is spare, unforgiving, and beautiful in its restraint. It shapes how we see form, texture, and color. We work with what the land gives us—stone, silence, and time.
Japanese influence, not imitation
We are drawn to the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi—the acceptance of imperfection, the beauty in what is worn, weathered, and incomplete. Our work reflects this through:
- Allowing glaze to break and pool naturally
- Accepting asymmetry as part of the process
- Leaving traces of the hand visible in the clay
We do not replicate Japanese forms. We learn from their principles and apply them to our own tradition.
How we work
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01
Hand-thrown on the wheel
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02
Trimmed at leather-hard stage
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03
Bisque fired slowly to harden the clay
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04
Glazed by hand with layered minerals
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05
High-fired to stoneware temperatures
No two pieces are identical. They are related, not replicated.
Made to be used
These are not objects for display. They are meant to be held, filled, and lived with. A cup should feel right in the hand. A bowl should sit well on the table. Function comes first. Beauty follows.
Why we make less
We produce in small quantities because quality cannot be rushed. Each piece takes time—time to throw, time to dry, time to fire. We choose to make fewer things, made better, rather than many things made quickly.