Ruta Butkute

Ceramics isn’t as unpredictable as people tend to think. Systematic testing, careful measurements, detailed records and technical expertise can go a long way to obtain consistent results. But not all artists are after consistency. During her EKWC residency, Ruta Butkute refused to be contained by rules, trusting her instinct instead to test the material to its limits. She poured liquid porcelain of various colours onto circular and rectangle slabs to create a smooth, marbled plane of frozen movement. Given the limited time casting slip remains fluid, Butkute had to work really fast in frantic dialogue with the porcelain, constantly responding to it in a physical, performative process. It resulted in a series of fragments from a larger universe, cold yet full of life, where each work is still a world in itself. Occasional cracks reveal tensions and imperfections, casually hinting at some unknown dimension beyond the impenetrable surface.