London

Kati Jünger

Ceramicist | Laufen, Germany

Capturing the transience of life

Kati collects all sorts of objects in order to re-use them
Her works attempt to capture the transience of life
She likes to combine different materials with ceramics

At the young age of 16, Kati Jünger found her way into crafts. “Being raised in a family of artists, there was no alternative but to focus on my creative potential,” she says. Ceramics provided a fertile ground for expression, and she has always taken inspiration from nature "and the transience of life and things”. So you might meet her wandering along a riverbank or at a flea market, searching for objects whose primary life has come to an end, but whose second life is waiting. Embedded in the aesthetics of ancient Asian ceramics, Kati's guiding principle is to attempt to capture and overcome the transience of life through replication and rearrangement.

Interview

How do you process your finds?: I cast them in plaster and apply the negative of their form to cups and vases. I transform their singular existence into a sequence through replication, resulting in a pattern that is fixed during the firing process. I also use epoxy resin to capture plastic finds from the river, changed by water and sun, in the moment of decay.
How do you combine tradition and innovation?: I follow the tradition of functionality as the vessels I make are meant to be used. However, I am always on the lookout for new materials like epoxy resin, glass and metal. To combine them with ceramics without losing the utility value of a vessel is innovation to me.
What is the untold story of your work?: It is a story of helplessness, as the manifestation of material and idea through the firing process in the kiln is not in my hands. It is like a recurring existential crisis; you can win or lose everything in that moment.
Could your craft be considered in danger?: On the contrary. To me it appears that the more difficult people's lives get, the more they long for beautiful things. Industrially manufactured ceramics have benefits, but they are missing the special energy only a handmade vessel can convey.

Kati Jünger is an expert artisan: she began her career in 1978