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I ended up in ceramics by chance. After finishing high school, I started an apprenticeship in Fritz Göllner’s workshop. Quite honestly, the ‘earthy’ didn’t interest me at all. I saw the apprenticeship as more of a stop-over. I wanted to study design, or painting, perhaps. But then I discovered colours. This was a real discovery, as nobody was making multi-coloured ceramics at that time. We just clicked. I graduated from the Fachhochschule für Keramikgestaltung (Technical College for Ceramic Design) in Höhr-Grenzhausen in 1989. The decision to exhibit at the Frankfurt Fair from the beginning and forego selling my pieces at pottery fairs was the second bright idea. A one-woman workshop with unusual pieces, with no piece matching another, was perfect for gallerists and dealers. I’ve stayed true to this approach ever since. My art allows me to work very openly. At the outset I experimented a lot. Over the years I’ve grown calmer. I’ve developed standards for myself, a kind of basis from which new patterns grow. I work day by day. One thing develops from the last. As a result, I don’t actually issue any new collections. The new evolves from something I’ve been working on for a long time. My personal patterns and techniques are the result of my passion for experimenting. For instance, if I layer the colours and glazes, they become transparent after having been fired. At first glance my pieces look as if they are made of porcelain, or glass. I find it intriguing that critics, potential buyers and collectors compare my works to exotic art. They’ll say it looks Mexican, or reminds them of Asian art. I’ve heard this from different people around the |
world. I sell in Kuwait, Dubai, the USA. In those countries, on the other hand, my ceramics are considered to be very European. I’ve never made a complete set. I create variations of objects that can be combined with each other. If I’m laying a table for a special occasion, I’ll use my mother’s white porcelain and add a few of my large and small bowls, or the desert plates. You can also combine them with glass. I don’t have enough pieces in the house to make up a complete set. I have a few favourite pieces in my cupboard, and a few collector’s items by other artists made of glass or clay. I don’t collect my own works and I don’t document them. What I’ve made is completed and has to leave the house. I’m relieved when it’s all gone. I don’t even want to keep those pieces I really like. I’m only really satisfied when they too are packed up and shipped out. At the moment I’m working on pitchers. The fundamental concept is to design a larger, more simple vessel. The shape is central to my multi-coloured decoration; too much detail only distracts. The Frankfurt Fair is on in August again. Luckily, I’ve always been able to rely on a creative surge before then. It almost seems as if, the more I work, the faster my brain cells get. By the way, my favourite colour is turquoise, even though I use so much orange and red. In the meantime everything’s almost too red for me, but this is changing as well. New things only evolve from something I’ve been working on for quite a while. |