Mambo Sun
Mambo Sun
Luís Silva
2025
Screen Printing on Ceramic / 3 colors
150 x 200 x 6 mm / 5.90 x 7.87 x 0.24 in (approx.)
Limited Edition of 15
Signed and Numbered
Material: Yellow earthenware
Coating: Ceramic inks (3 colors)
Finish: Transparent glaze
As this is a handmade ceramic and screen print edition, slight variations may occur — please read the information below for details and care instruction.
Luís Silva is a Portuguese artist whose practice draws from the natural landscape that surrounds him, the aesthetics of the 1960s, and his country’s surf culture. His work emerges from the constant presence of the sun and the sea, expressed through geometric forms and abstract compositions. Balancing technical precision with an introspective approach, he invites the viewer into a parallel universe — where melancholy, nostalgia, and joy coexist in harmony.

Mambo Sun
SCREEN PRINTING MEETS CERAMICS
SCREEN PRINTED WITH CERAMIC INKS
Find out more about the production of this edition

WITH PORTUGUESE WHITE EARTHENWARE
FROM PLASTIC TO GLAZEWARE
Each tile is made one by one, with the slab technique, which involves rolling out the clay into flat pieces, using a slab roller.
Throughout the entire process, theres a lot of testing, cutting, waiting, handling, pressing, shelving and frequent follow-up, all of which require great care and patience.
Before printing with ceramic inks, each tile undergoes a bisque firing.

AFTER THE FIRST FIRING
BISQUE STAGE
In this edition, after the bisque firing, the tiles are printed with ceramic inks (one color at a time) and then glazed. Or the other way around.
With screen printing it's possible to print directly onto the clay, at various stages, using different types of coatings, resulting in diverse aesthetics.
In this collection, we use more than one process.

MELTING THE GLAZE ONTO THE BISQUEWARE
FIRING OVER 1000°C
Besides the use of ceramic inks on this edition, every piece is finished with transparant glaze.
Before it's finished, each tile goes through two firings - bisque and glaze - at around 1000°C(1832°F). From closing to opening the kiln, each firing can last more than 24 hours.