What Zeina Nahas is making in Toronto

Zeina Nahas works in two materials: stoneware and silver. The ceramic vessels come from the Melancholy collection, large glazed forms built around the idea of duality, contrast, and the particular beauty of things that do not last. The silver rings are something else entirely: shaped by hand without molds from 99.9% pure silver, each one a specific size, each one finished individually with an agate stone. We carry both. This is what she makes and how she makes it.

In this article

• The Melancholy collection: ceramic vessels
• The silver rings
• Why both?
• Frequently asked questions

The Melancholy collection: ceramic vessels

The Melancholy collection takes its name from a particular kind of acceptance: the acknowledgment that things are transient, and that this is part of what makes them beautiful. The vessels in the collection are built in stoneware with glazed interiors, their forms shaped around contrast and a quality of light that shifts depending on where you place them. They are substantial objects. The Melancholy Vessel 06 is 33 centimetres tall and 25 centimetres wide; the Sculpture 06 is 18 by 21.

The forms are not decorative in the conventional sense. They are sculptural: the curves are specific, the proportions deliberate, and the relationship between the exterior stoneware and the glazed interior creates a visual contrast that changes as the light in the room changes. They work as vessels in the traditional sense, capable of holding something, and as objects that work on their own terms with nothing in them.

Each piece is one of a kind. Zeina does not produce editions or reproductions. The vessel you bring home is the vessel she made, in the specific way she made it, at the specific moment she was working on that collection. There will not be another one like it.

The silver rings

The rings are a separate body of work, made from 99.9% pure silver rather than the sterling silver (92.5% silver) that most contemporary jewellery uses. The difference matters: 99.9% silver is softer and more malleable than sterling, which makes it more responsive to hand shaping, and it is also purer. The trade-off is that it requires slightly more care in daily wear. Zeina notes this directly: these are rings that reward gentle handling.

Each ring is shaped and sculpted by hand without any reliance on molds. This is not just a claim about the quality of the process; it is a description of what the objects actually are. A ring made with a mold is a reproduction of a master form. A ring made without one is the thing itself. The variation between individual pieces is not an imperfection. It is the record of the hand that made them.

Some rings are left with their surface untouched after shaping. Others are burnished or polished with an agate stone, which compresses and brightens the metal surface without abrasion. The specific finish of each ring is part of what it is and not something that can be specified separately from the ring in question.

Why both?

It is not unusual for artists to work in more than one material, but it is unusual for those materials to be as different as stoneware and silver. The two practices are not in the same discipline, require different tools and equipment, and produce objects at radically different scales and price points. What they share is a making logic: nothing is produced with a mold, every piece is built by hand, and the variation between pieces is not treated as a problem to eliminate but as part of what the object is.

The Melancholy vessels and the silver rings ask different things of the person who brings them home. The vessels are room objects: they occupy space, they accumulate light, they require a surface and some consideration of where they are placed. The rings are personal: they go on the body and carry the specifics of the hand that made them with them everywhere. Both are one of a kind. Both are made in Toronto. Both are in the store.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Zeina Nahas?

Zeina Nahas is a Toronto-based artist who works in stoneware ceramics and pure silver. Her ceramic work includes the Melancholy collection of sculptural vessels and sculptures. Her silver work is a range of hand-shaped rings made without molds from 99.9% pure silver. Both bodies of work are produced as one-of-a-kind pieces.

What is the difference between 99.9% silver and sterling silver?

Sterling silver is 92.5% silver alloyed with other metals, typically copper, which increases its hardness and durability. 99.9% pure silver is softer and more malleable, which makes it more responsive to hand shaping. It is also purer. The trade-off is that it is slightly less resistant to bending in daily wear, which is why Zeina recommends gentle care for her rings.

Are Zeina Nahas rings made to size?

Each ring is a specific size and is not made to order in a different size. The size of each ring is listed on the product page. Because each ring is hand-shaped without molds, there are no duplicates: when a ring in a given size sells, it is gone.

What is the Melancholy collection?

The Melancholy collection is a series of ceramic vessels and sculptures by Zeina Nahas, built in stoneware with glazed interiors. The collection takes its name from a particular acceptance of transience: the idea that things are beautiful partly because they do not last. The forms in the collection are shaped around contrast, specifically the relationship between the unglazed exterior surface and the glazed interior, and how that contrast reads differently in different light.

Where can I find Zeina Nahas work in Toronto?

Mararamiro carries Zeina Nahas's ceramic vessels and silver rings at 2090 Dundas Street West in Roncesvalles, open Wednesday through Sunday. Her current selection is also available online at mararamiro.com.