I, Nawal Motawi, am the founder of Motawi Tileworks, a beloved local company with a national reputation for making beautiful, handmade ceramic tile. Motawi has been making tile in Ann Arbor for 30 years. This exhibit is a retrospective look at the work of the company from the days when Motawi sold its first tiles at the Farmers Market, to the current company that ships their tile all over the country and internationally.
My unique talent is the ability to ‘see’ a design for a tile within another image and bring that tile design into reality. Motawi tiles have a distinctive look characterized by confidence, balance, and drama, along with a sophisticated manipulation of the figure/ground relationship. That distinctive look even shines through the tiles based on the artwork of Frank Lloyd Wright and Charley Harper, whose work Motawi is licensed to recreate in tile.
Ceramics is a blend of art and science. One must understand the effects of heatwork and glaze chemistry and be able to harness them to make something worth having. Each Motawi tile means something different to every person, and we intend to keep making tile for the next 30 years, too!
– Nawal Motawi
