Amazement

Grainne Watts

I first saw her work in London two years ago. She stood there with her 'Bindu series'.
These large shapes have a soft feel and look as if they are covered with fabric and you can hardly resist the will to stroke them.

Bindu means 'drop' in Sanskrit, but also refers to the 'dot' that Indian women have on their foreheads.

"The symbol of the ‘Dot/ Bindu ’ has many meanings, which fascinate me and inspire exploration…it represents the smallest possible mark, pure potentiality and the starting point from which all things arise."

Check out the entire series on her website.

Grainne Watts

Lidwien van Wersch (NL)

If I ever decide to make completely different work in ceramics, it will be figurative. I look with admiration at people who make human figures with a clear emotion, such as Lidwien van Wersch.

She made a series last year in response to the corona crisis:

"It is a distressing period. From this feeling I added some images to the series 'Verklemmte Zeit'."

Photo: Verklemmte Zeit 11 (detail)

Lidwien van Wersch

Eddie Curtis

I love the texture Eddie Curtis (GB) gives to his work, I think it's beautiful. He is also inspired by Japanese ceramics and wabi sabi. His work is therefore reminiscent of the work of Akira Satake (see below), but is nevertheless very unique. Using different techniques and glazes, he creates a beautiful texture where colors and contrasts are in balance.

Eddie Curtis 

Marriëtte van der Ven

The porcelain sculptures of Marriëtte van der Ven (NL) have something poetic to me.

She says about it herself: "I want to capture the human psyche, the soul residing in the body, the non-physical but leading part of the human being in my images."

Marriëtte van de Ven

Tjabel Klok (NL)

I saw the work of Tjabel Klok for the first time years ago at an exhibition in Friesland. I think that was when the seeds were laid for my current work. Tjabel mainly uses raku with a subtle use of color. I really like the contrast between the deep black and white, but also the colors and the seemingly random patterns.

Tjabel Klok

Martijn de Boer

Again not a ceramist, but a painter. The Tilburg based artist Martijn de Boer. I really like his work. He turns a simple street scene into a fantastic watercolor.
This is a market scene in Tilburg. 

Martijn de Boer

Janaina Mello Landini

The Brazilian Janaina Mello shows in her work what you can do with 'simple' rope. She unravels thick pieces of rope down to the thinnest thread. This creates 'unraveled trees' that sometimes occupy an entire space and have an architectural appearance. This is not surprising, given that she studied architecture before turning to art.

Janaina Mello Landini

Luke Fuller

Luke Fuller's work looks like it has been in the ground for years. It is rough, coarse, 'broken' and therefore radiates history.

He examines the material and ways of firing his pieces.

In his series 'Faults' he investigates geological processes and the desire of people to control and obtain organic matter.

Luke Fuller

Zsolt Jozsef Simon

This artist fram Hungary uses molds consisting of many pieces. He intentionally lets the slip escape between the pieces of a mold, to create these whimsical sculptures.

"My paintings, drawings and sculptures are movement studies without real forms. I didn’t want to catch the forms but the process of forming."

I find it very intriguing sculptures.

Zsolt Jozsef Simon

The potters of Myanmar

In a foreign country I try to buy the most modest pot I can find. I love plain, pure pieces. My amazement this time is not so much the result, as the process. In Myanmar I got the opportunity to visit a number of potter families. I made a few small video's of how the throw their pieces.

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Paula Bastiaanse

The Dutch Paula Bastiaanse regularly takes part in international exhibitions and has won several prices.
Her objects, made of bone china, seem to move.  Rythme and movement are her theme's.  

To me they look like a moment of a tornado. Since Bone China is a difficult material to work with, these fragile objects also say much about her craftsmanship.

On her website she explanes her method of working. Also check out her other objects there.

Paula Bastiaanse

Jongjin Park

This Korean ceramicist loves experimenting. He worked about four years on his 'Artistic Stratum series'. For these series he built his work with paper towels and porcelain slib. This results in seemingly soft and fragile objects. 

Both in precision and colour it's almost the opposite of what I do and that's what makes his work so interesting to me.

Jongjin Park

Akira Satake

Akira Satake was born in Osaka, Japan and lives in the USA since 1983.

If you're familiar with my work, it won't suprise you that I like his work. It has a strong wabi-sabi feel. The shapes and glazes seem random, but everything is in perfect balance. He uses old techniques like tanka (fired with natural charcoal in a saggar box) and woodfire. A big part of his work consists of sake-sets, teapots and chawans (Japanse teamugs). The aesthetics of wabi-sabi once started with the teaceremony. His chawans fit in this aesthetics completely.

Akira Satake