Maria Pohlkemper

Keramikwerke

Porcelain maker

©Pohlkemper

©Robert Wilken

The tension between planning and chance

Maria won the NRW State Prize with a work she initially considered a failure
She works mostly with white porcelain
Prior to ceramics, she had studied theology

Maria Pohlkemper creates sculptural objects from fine bone china porcelain. After studying theology, she completed a second vocational training in ceramics. She did an apprenticeship in a company that also produces ceramics for Friedensreich Hundertwasser. "I chose structural ceramics because I was impressed by the murals and large-format ceramics made by this company." An exhibition at her vocational school in Höhr Grenzhausen sparked her interest in porcelain. The porcelain that Maria finds most beautiful is white, but with a warm translucency. When she started her own workshop, it took her some time to develop the perfect porcelain she had in mind. Maria continues to experiment and discover new forms and ways of handling porcelain. When firing her sculptures, there is a risk that the work will collapse or deform due to the intense heat. "Once the objects are in the kiln, I have to let go and let chance take its course."

Interview

©Pohlkemper

©Pohlkemper

When and how did you come to open your studio?: I own and operate my own studio since 2007. My husband and I were building our house at the time. I was eager to customise tiles, sinks, and other features of the house, so we equipped our home with a ceramic workshop. A feature on this in a well-known German magazine led to me receiving many commissions immediately.
Is there a memorable moment in your career?: I built an object for the North Rhine-Westphalia State Prize competition in 2021 and it collapsed in the oven, losing its original shape. I dismissed it as a failure, tried again and the second one turned out just as I had hoped. After a while I got used to seeing the two shapes side by side, and found them to be particularly beautiful. I submitted the composition, and I was even happier when I won the prize.
What did this teach you?: In the beginning, I experimented to see if I could influence the deformation of the object. I learned to work with the porcelain and not against it, not to label an alleged mistake as a failure, but to distance myself and take a new perspective on it. Moreover, I was taught by work that this unpredictability has its own distinctive and lively beauty.
How you define well made?: In crafts, to me it means, above all, making things that you enjoy surrounding yourself with. For me, that means handling material well and with confidence. In my view, this also includes a good sense of design and experience.

Maria Pohlkemper is an expert artisan she began her career in 1991