Lea Mi Engholm

Knots of clay

• Lea Mi works mostly with two types of clay: blue and porcelain
• It can take months to finalise a piece
• She almost never uses glazes

Born in Korea, Lea Mi Engholm moved to Denmark and was educated at the Design School Kolding and then the HDK School of Design and Crafts at the University of Gothenburg. She has been awarded prizes by the Danish Arts Foundation as well as several grants for her work. “I use simple approaches to explore clay’s forms of expression in a partially controlled process. I use manipulations, but I let the material do the rest.” For a short time, she produced tableware. But eventually it became clear to her that it was not the production itself that motivated her. So, she went back to experimenting, creating small sculptures and structures that are aesthetically unique.

Interview

©Emil Rye

©Emil Rye

When did you first fall in love with clay?

In sixth grade, while I was doing a pottery workshop. I remember the first object I made: a bone modelled in clay. Then I followed my heart: I studied, in 2006 I graduated and in 2010 I opened my own workshop. A memorable moment was when I became the very proud owner of a brand-new kiln.

What’s your creative process like?

My work is about demonstrating clay’s own properties, so I often don’t use any tools, only my hands and the raw clay. The finished works are a visual expression of a physical working process involving material and time. Only when the kiln door is opened, do I know whether the process has succeeded.

How do you handle the clay without tools?

For example, I twist the material into strings until the clay forms knots and is at breaking point. In the process, the clay begins to curl, and I try to stretch it to the limit. The material twists by itself and it is sometimes a case of just knowing when to stop.

Do you start from a sketch?

Usually, but the finished work does not always look like the sketch. I feel a special excitement when I open the kiln and see the result. The final work does not necessarily take a long time to make, but the process of finding the right expression can take months.

Lea Mi Engholm is a master artisan: she began her career in 2006 and she started teaching in 2008

Works

©Lea Mi Engholm

©Ole Akhøj

©Dorte Krogh

©Anders Vejen Andersen

©Lea Mi Engholm

Where