Louise Frydman

Ceramicist

A balance between delicacy and strength

Movement is key to her, she creates living shapes and aerial installations
Her work with paper led her to the use of clay, which is now her material of choice
She voluntarily gives a white, matt and powdery finish to her works, an aesthetic intention based on light and shapes

In 2015, Parisian art gallery Amélie Maison d’Art commissioned Louise Frydman to work on an installation for the Hôtel de Croisilles. She faced a challenge, a colossal 17-metre-long mobile consisting of 1, 300 pieces, her first encounter using the material that is now her hallmark – ceramic. To complete the project, she was mentored by ceramist Jean-François Reboul. Progressively, she moved from Paris to Burgundy and set up her studio where she started to work on ceramic sculptures, panels, and mobiles. Situated near the town of Cluny, a historical site surrounded by nature and Roman architecture, the area provides the perfect backdrop of forests as well as the abundant presence of clay. Frydman’s work is an exploration of these forms derived from nature: a petal, a tree or the wind and the emotions that they exude.

Interview

How do you incorporate both tradition and innovation in your work?: Tradition is by everything that Jean-François Reboul transmitted to me, he enabled me to accomplish something I thought impossible. I did not have training as a ceramist in the traditional sense, but it wasn’t so far removed from what I was exploring with paper – it was brought to life with a new material. It was like an apprenticeship. Also, I use clay which is an ancestral material. For innovation, it’s the challenge I set myself by working with such fragile forms, to make something strong and delicate at the same time.
Why did you decide to work with a larger, monumental scale?: I wanted more magnitude, to work with a greater dimension and create a battle with the material and even more of a challenge. What I like is the physical aspect, the difficultly of the material, it is an encounter that is more body to body in a way.
What is something people are surprised to know about your work?: Mostly the finesse of the pieces, they don’t always notice that it’s ceramic. It is the fragility and delicateness of the forms that surprise them. Also, they don’t always realize that it’s ceramic because of the white powdery finish.
Do you feel that your craft is in danger?: I don’t feel we are in danger, I think there is a return to the handmade and the meeting that is very new between the artisans and art. We are now able to create works of art in their own right with the use of craftmanship techniques. I think what is happening is wonderful both for contemporary art and for artisans. And of course, for society in general.

Louise Frydman is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2015