Hand shaping clay with untamed emotion
- Karlien uses clay as a healing expression
- She received the 2017 Minter Ellison Award which granted her a residency in China
- She explores sculptural forms through hand building techniques
Karlien van Rooyen hand builds sculptures and vases using local, recycled and wild clay that she harvests herself. "After leaving South Africa at 16 years old for Australia, I studied medicinal science, which I later stopped to dedicate myself to environmental activism. I participated in on-the-ground actions in remote, endangered areas located in Kimberley in Western Australia, along with Aboriginal communities," she says. It is in this environment that Karlien discovered ceramics while manipulating natural clay found on site. "My practice became a way for me to reconcile body, earth and memory," she explains. Today, Karlien creates light, elegant shapes by monitoring the moisture content of the clay. Her pieces are inspired by her raw emotions and memories, as well as archaeological motifs, moss, lichen and rock formations.
Interview
- What does your training background look like?
- I completed a bachelor of contemporary art specialising in ceramics, while continuing my medical studies. In 2017, I received the Minter Ellison Award for Outstanding Creative Potential. This grant from the Helpmann Academy deeply enriched my technique, as it allowed me to undertake a residency in Jingdezhen in China, the birthplace of porcelain.
- Are there specific ceramic techniques you master?
- I work with hand building rather than wheel throwing, as I cannot express myself freely on the wheel. During my residency in China, I learned how to make my largest pieces retain structural integrity without making thick, heavy clay walls. I am now able to build light, elegant shapes by monitoring the moisture content of the clay.
- How do you translate your inspiration into material and gestures?
- My inspiration is expressing raw emotions and memories through clay as a medium, using my hand and body as tools. I draw inspiration from archaeological motifs, symbols and very few, natural colours and textures such as moss, lichen or rock formations. I want to bring a sense of raw and untamed beauty of nature into my craft.
- Is the environment a key consideration in your practice?
- My work is closely related to the environment. I use local clay, harvest wild clay myself and recycle unused clay. I also limit firings by doing a single firing from raw clay to stoneware temperatures. I am fully aware that ceramics is an energy-consuming craft due to the kiln, so I work responsibly.
Karlien van Rooyen is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2014 and she started teaching in 2018
Where
Karlien van Rooyen
