Queen of Coils, and monochrome forms
- Astrid translates traditional African coiling into contemporary vessels
- She maintains a disciplined daily practice in her studio
- Her goal is to master a balance of proportion and form
Astrid Dahl launched her career in 2002 after a formative period in a bronze casting foundry, eventually returning to the ceramic coiling technique she had learned as a student at Natal Technikon. She made a move away from industrial rigidity toward a more organic sculptural syntax, a shift catalysed by a collaboration with South African design 'guru', Neville Trickett. "We started with vessels that had broken tops, and literally broke the tops off vessels," Astrid recalls. Her monochromatic language clicked once she was introduced to a book of 19th-century botanical photography. Today, Astrid’s search for authenticity is a disciplined undertaking. Every day, she channels her devotion to proportion into forms that feel both ancient and contemporary.
INTERVIEW
It was definitely with Hendrik Stroebel. He was a lecturer I adored. He once invited African artisans to demonstrate coiling to us and I was sold. It was far more fluid than making slabs or crosshatching. I felt a connection to coiling as my language and found something that I could do really well.
I think the art of ceramics has moved from being purely functional to being far more adventurous. I would say my work is traditional in terms of method. But in terms of the rendering of the final object, I would say it is contemporary.
I think if you have a eureka moment then what is the point of making? I have always loved what I make, though, as most artists, I always think, 'I could have done it better.' I am always striving to create better things. We strive to excel and to achieve something within us.
It is what I know best, and it always feels like I am coming home. I never get tired of going into my studio. I go in there every day and it never gets old for me. It is a place where I find my peace and my stillness.
