About Lissa

Lissa started her professional journey with clay working in the studio potteries of Kolonyama in Lesotho and Mapepe Craft in Henley-on Klip. She has owned her own craft shop and worked in a non-profit organization giving therapeutic outreach pottery sessions to vulnerable people.

Lissa sculpts figuratively, lately focusing on themes exploring her own childhood in South Africa. She is also a production wheel thrower and teaches pottery lessons to adults and children in her Hout Bay studio in Cape Town.

Making for the film industry has been an exciting new departure. She recently made lamps and idols for the Troy series and ‘smashables’ for Warrior 2, both filmed in South Africa. She has produced online workshops via private YouTube videos on different ceramic techniques to reach a worldwide audience.

Lissa designs and produces pottery for clients as ‘bespoke’ ranges that suit the look and feel of their vision. Her clients include high-end interior designers and commercial outlets.

A recent themed exhibition called ‘Cut-Outs’ (November 2021) presented her work inspired by the paper cut- outs and vibrant colours of Matisse. Lissa translates the two-dimensional cut-outs in 3-d form in a playful rendering that celebrates the essence of life.

Lissa studied Social Anthropology and African Languages at the University of Cape Town and studied Ceramic Science at the Witwatersrand Technikon. She is a second-generation potter.


Hear more about Lissa on the Potter’s Cast podcast: https://thepotterscast.com/657

Instagram: @lissa.pottery
Email: lissapottery@gmail.com