Koos Buster Stroucken
An ATM machine, cleaning utensils, cigarette buds, a water cooler; the subject matter of Koos Buster’s (NL) ceramics may seem a bit trivial at times, but there is definitely a logic to them. Buster has a soft spot for things that go unnoticed or are about to disappear. Reproducing them in a durable medium like ceramics gives them an aura of importance and a much longer lease on life. He also likes to create things that make people happy, and somehow, this is the exact result his intentionally ham-handed sculptures have. Meanwhile, it takes quite a lot of skill to make things look this clumsy.
Manita Kieft |2
In recent years Manita Kieft (NL) has gotten more and more concerned with alarming current events, such as floodings, bushfires, earthquakes, and war, inevitably intruding her life through the daily news. During the covid lockdown, Kieft build her own library of photos taken from television screens showing grim images of disasters. She chose ceramics for its long history as (political) message bearers, which can stand the test of time and are still found in excavations today. At the EKWC Kieft focused on the field of tension of the transformation from photo to form, from 2- to 3-dimensionality, and how the images relate to not only the shape but also to the glaze application. Kieft used plaster casting molds, Styrofoam press-in-molds, and 3d printing techniques. The images were transferred using decals.
Bas Kosters
How do you maintain momentum when you’re working in ceramics? It took Bas Kosters (NL) a while to accept that clay needs to dry in between layers. And yet the sculptures he made during his residency emanate the same spontaneity and animation that are so typical of his graphic and textile works. The Brut Cute and Joy Bear series suggest an endearing softness to the heavy material, while the fluidity of the colorful JOY series belies the rigid nature of the fired sculptures.
Alice Heron
Alice Héron (FR) is exploring the idea of Gut Feeling, observing how her cooking experiences nourish her ceramic practice and how her artistic practice intertwines. She is interested in the relationship between intuition and guts, what we eat and how we feel, digestion of feelings and food. Heron used an instant noodle package from the supermarket for deepening into glazing experiments, a symbol for how our emotions are sealed. A dark sci-fi digital iris luster emerged, evoking a little-scary, rather beautiful feeling, as when following intuition. Simultaneously, she 3D-scanned, re-scaled, and developed new Styrofoam press-in molds using CNC milling. A series of rhizomatic patterns grew bigger and expanded its gutty surfaces inside her studio. The iridescent reflections of the luster and the magnetic dark curves make our guts feel and growl.
Kirsten Spuijbroek |2
Time seems to flow at once backwards and forwards through the work of artist Kirsten Spuijbroek (NL). The flowers she dips in porcelain become fossilised; the objects that emerge from the kiln might have travelled from aeons past or from a distant future. It gives them a tranquil beauty, a sense of mourning of all that comes to pass, reinforced by the muted colours of the clay. At EKWC, Spuijbroek developed new techniques of applying glaze as a constructive element in a series of sculptures and wall pieces that speak of absence, and the desire to preserve it.
