Elisheva Goldberg is a London based ceramist. She received her MA in Ceramics from The Royal College of Art in 2024 and was most recently the Hauser & Wirth artist-in-residence for the Winter of 2025. She specializes in both tableware and sculptural vases, seeking to balance the functional possibilities of ceramic objects with the inspirations she finds in gardens and bouquets of cut flowers. This series of plates feature hand-painted floral patterns that are inspired by the tradition of peasant painting from rural Central and Eastern Europe. The floral design is created using bright colours to form complex patterns out of simple shapes. At its raw stage, the rustic stoneware is coated with a porcelain slip, fired once, painted with the design in underglaze, dipped in a transparent glaze, and finally fired again

‘Who are you?

I’m Elisheva Goldberg, a London-based American ceramicist from Washington, D.C.

What is your creative area of expertise?

I’m a ceramicist, specializing in handpainted and wheel-thrown tableware and sculptural

vases.

How do you find inspiration?

Outside of the studio, I feel most inspired when I take a leisurely walk through a garden. I think that walking slowly down paths of flowers feels close to godliness. I try to use my craft to facilitate that holy feeling, so back in the studio I think about what it would be like to use my pieces while sitting in that garden–with a lemonade or tea, under the shade on a day in late Spring, with a slice of cake… and so I paint my patterns to suit that setting.

Tell us a little bit about the work you chose to share.

This series of wheel-thrown plates feature handpainted patterns that are inspired by the tradition of “peasant painting” from rural Central and Eastern Europe. Each floral design is created using bright colors to form complex patterns out of simple shapes. At its raw stage, the rustic stoneware is coated with a white engobe, fired once, painted with the design in underglaze, dipped in a transparent glaze, and finally fired again.

What is your work process?

I work best when I have 14 to 18 hours to sit in my studio with headphones on. I like to listen to Israeli hyperpop, history podcasts, and Leonard Cohen. Ideally I would just be at the wheel for six or seven hours at a time with a break for lunch and a coffee in the middle, but in reality I bounce around the studio, working on a little bit of this and a little bit of that until suddenly there is new pottery.

 One special moment that happened to you this year?

I just finished a two month residency at Hauser & Wirth Somerset where every moment was special, thanks to the most incredible team of people who work there. Besides spending time getting to know them, one of my favorite things to do during the residency was after a few driving lessons on the other side of the road (the bravest of them volunteered to teach me), I loved high-speed driving through the narrowest two-way roads known to humankind, surrounded by the most beautiful Turner-esque rolling pastures of countryside on the planet. It felt very high-risk, and it was very high-reward.

What’s next for you?

Since I got back from the Hauser & Wirth residency I am continuing to work out of my studio in South London on private commissions and special projects. I have a big project with [Hauser & Wirth] coming up in September, and after that I am making a big move to set up a studio in New York.’