Black Pepper Paperie Co.



Black Pepper Paperie Co.

About The Artist

Hadiya Williams • Washington, DC
Ceramics

I'm a decorative artist and surface designer based in Washington, DC. My work focuses on decorative arts: ceramic objects, surface design, and visual art. Everything I create is inspired by the African Diaspora, reflecting the stories of history, cultural memory, and migration.



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Q&A with the Artist

Tell us how your work is made.

My ceramic work is hand-built with slabs and coils using primarily underglaze. I typically design my surface in the moment rather than sketching. The paper is hand-cut and arranged intuitively as well.


What makes you passionate about the medium you work with?

You can literally make anything with mud and fire. I have watched the process from digging up the mud to firing a beautiful vessel with no machinery and it is almost an unbelievable process. Im so inspired by those who've managed to turn function into art and I'm honored to be able to take part in that.

What is something unique about you or your practice?

My foundation is graphic design (20 years) so when I started Black Pepper Paperie Co., it was supposed to be a stationery design business where I design for events and occasions. That's where the �paperie� comes from. In the process of developing that, I picked up clay and everything changed. I actually added the hand-cut paper artwork in 2020 during those long pandemic days. The hand-cut paper is the primary source of my surface pattern design. I'm slowly incorporating it into my ceramic work as well.