I think ceramic has a bright future ahead
Liste Noire: Your objects are equipped with the function of normal cutlery pieces, yet they are artworks due to the conceptual content they carry. How do you define yourself: as a designer or as an artist?
Sissel Wathne: My means of expression is ceramics and my direction is towards expressive craft. Work originates from my curiosity with visual communication.I explore and experiment with the possibilities that lie in using ceramics as a narrative media, experimentally approaching my material. I focus on expression, thought and ideas, attempting to activate the observer’s senses, intellect and emotions, through my ceramic objects. Sometimes I work with functional design, making smaller series of unique pieces, and design that undergoes larger factory production.
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LN: Why did you choose to work with ceramic? Why not plastic for example?
SW: I do work in other materials, though ceramic is the material I always return to. My fascination and passion for ceramics is inexpressible - indefatigable. I have chosen to specialize myself into the ceramic field, but that doesn’t mean other materials are excluded. Plastic? Sounds exciting to me…
LN: Tell me more about the production of your pieces. Do you make them with your own hands or produce them in an industrial space?
SW: Until now all my works have been produced by hand, as well as my prototypes of functional designs that underwent a larger production.My present ceramic project consists of pieces which are mass-produced in China. But they will end up as ready-mades, made by hand. So I guess the production of my works is a combination of handmade and factory-produced pieces, depending on my concept.
Project: ‘Everydaylife’Ceramic works: ‘Old betty’, ‘Mrs Ingeborg’, ‘Miss Ellen’ and ‘Little Marie’
In a consumerist society we have all lost sight of where our products originate.I use ceramics as my narrative medium to create an awareness of the links between the natural and the prefabricated world. I am experimenting with expressing these thoughts through the use of everyday objects combining reality with fantasy.
In the project "Where does the egg come from?” I have worked with human separation from nature. I take my sources from the consumerist society, commercial stores and frozen foods, versus the natural and unique resources, originality, authenticity and proximity.
My four ecological outdoor fowls had to sacrifice their lives for the sake of art. But they are now, with their revealed identity and given personality, visual comments on their ‘family’- battery hens and broilers.Their identities represent old traditional Danish farmer names.
The oldest hen “Old Betty”, who has laid a lot of eggs during her lifetime, is made out of fine white porcelain, to emphasize her rank. The other fowls, “Mrs Ingeborg”, “Miss Ellen” and “Little Marie” are made in a range of pink, orange and yellow - colours of the skin.
They are all non-glazed, to accentuate small details. The “egg-holes” are given applied traditional gold decoration, to enhance the quality of the historic porcelain figure known as conversation-piece.The fowls are cast in plaster made by hand. An intensive work with details makes the moulds very precise and realistic. All four conceptual eggcups and spoons are slip-cast porcelain in 3-4 pieces, in 2-5 divided moulds.
I have used everyday ware as a narrative form, an object that is part of our everyday rhythms, habits and traditions. My works relate to function but are non functional. The utility becomes a part of expressing the statement. “It is not what it is, but what it is about”.
LN: What is glaze for a ceramist?
SW: For me as a ceramist glaze is ‘possibilities’ – an experimental playground. The chemistry is difficult, but the more you find out, the more doors will open. That is one of the most fascinating things about ceramics: it is not easy and you will never stop learning.
LN: I love the knitted series of white ceramic objects. They make you think of fashion texture. Do you collaborate or intent to work with jewelry or fashion designers?
SW: Yes! It would be fantastic to collaborate with both jewelry and fashion designers. I am very open to collaboration and I intent to start up projects this year…
LN: Do you feel that being born in Denmark can be read in your ceramic works?
SW: Some of my works do have a Scandinavian touch. Especially my ‘Knitted Ware’. Which is light, simple and in a cold Nordic white range of colours. My inspiration of knitwear originates from Norwegian knitting traditions and handicraft.The titles of my 4 conceptual eggcups are in fact old traditional Danish farmer names - “Old Betty”, “Mrs. Ingeborg”, “Miss Ellen” and “Little Marie”.
LN: Please name a few people who inspired you. And mention how.
SW: I have always been fascinated by the work of Danish ceramist Bodil Manz.The first time I saw her ceramic work 10 years ago, I was so impressed with the possibilities that lie in ceramic. She made a series of slip cast jugs, in geometrical shapes, with straight and ultra-thin porcelain walls – defined and sharp.Bodil Manz has inspired me to experiment with clay – working with techniques and material aesthetics and qualities.In my newest projects, I have been very inspired by the art group “Improve Everywhere” (www.improveverywhere.com).
LN: What are your future plans?
SW: I will keep on working with ceramic - art and design projects. Both solo projects and collaboration with other artists and designers – as well as companies and factories.
LN: Do you think that ceramic has a bright future? Considering its past and present.
SW: Yes, indeed. I think ceramic has a bright future ahead. Both in art and design, ceramic is a material with so many unexploited possibilities and resources.
Time changes the ceramic field. Good galleries, schools or factories had to close, and young ceramists can only read about the unique history and fantastic traditions.
But there will always be new needs and new opportunities. I look forward to exploration, experiment, exchange, extension and improvement. I look forward to meeting the changes in the ceramic field.
Traces of everyday life
Traces of everyday life
Traces of everyday life
Traces of everyday life
Traces of everyday life
Old Betty
Old Betty, Mrs. Ingeborg, Miss Ellen and Little Marie
Miss Ellen
Miss Ellen, detail
Little Marie
Knitted porcelain cylinders
Knitted porcelain cylinders
Knitted Cofee Pot
Knitted Darlings
Kill Your Darlings
Kill Your Darlings
Kill Your Darlings
Kill Your Darlings
Kill Your Darlings
Kill Your Darlings
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