Eszter FEHÉR

Hugi Ceramic Design

Ceramicist

©Eszter FEHÉR

©Vass Livia

©Zsirai Tibor

©Feher David

Material touch

Eszter has always wanted to work with her bare hands
Many restaurants and wine bars use her bowls and dishes
She is working on the development of custom glazes

At 15, Eszter Fehér was looking for an institution where she could study a profession that involved using her hands. Her respect and love for ceramics developed quickly, and after graduating from the Secondary School of Arts in Pécs (south Hungary), she studied at the Moholy-Nagy University of Arts in Budapest and later in Basel, at the Institut Integrative Gestaltung – Masterstudio der Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst FHNW (MA). After moving back to Hungary, she started working in her grandmother's garage on a foot-operated wheel. Her work started to get recognised by restaurants around Lake Balaton, and continues to be more in demand each year. As a mother to a little boy, she finds time for creativity in the quieter moments and is now working on developing her own custom glazes for electric kilns.

Interview

©Vass Livia

What did the years spent in Basel teach you?: That school was less focused on practice – more on design, theory, project management, presentation. I didn’t have the opportunity to create and that’s when I realised how important touching the material is to me, and how much my chosen profession has become part of me.
What inspires you the most?: Anything can spark a good idea: love, a word, a movie, a situation, nature. I often find the most beauty in things that no one else notices. There are so many objects in my mind waiting to come to life, I hope I will be given enough time to create some of them.
What techniques do you work with?: I am currently developing custom glazes for electric furnaces. Wood firing is also very important to me. No two sessions are alike, each furnace has its own character and produces different results. It’s tiring, physically hard work, but I love every minute of it.
How do tradition and innovation combine in your work?: I make my objects with traditional wheels, but I don’t create traditional shapes. "Less is more" is my motto. I also try to keep function in mind.

Eszter FEHÉR is a master artisan: she began her career in 2008 and she started teaching in 2018