Torbjørn Kvasbø

Ceramicist

©OH YU

©Torbjørn Kvasbø

An ode to life

Torbjørn explores life and its limits
He has an experimental approach
His students learn to believe in only themselves

Torbjørn Kvasbø grew up working with his grandfather, a carpenter, in the small Norwegian mountain village of Venabygd where he still lives and works. A piano player who was initially intending to get into a music conservatory, Torbjørn started to experiment with ceramics and ended up applying to art school instead, gaining a place to study ceramics at the Bergen School of Applied Arts. "The class of 1975-1978 is legendary," he says. "We had a riot and fired our teachers to get guest teachers!" The first master they invited to teach them was Takeshi Yasuda. This need “to teach and to learn” resulted in Torbjørn attending the Centre for Ceramic Art at Ringebu Parsonage, an experimental local ceramic residency for top ranked guest ceramic artists, which hosts exhibitions and workshops.

Where

Interview

©Tan Hongyu

©Andre Gali

How would you define what you do?: My work is a difficult process and very hard to describe. The work is life itself, not a representation of it. Every person has a different association with my work and I am very pleased by that. It means they are able to open their own interior to it, which is the actual purpose.
How did you get into abstract forms and sculptures?: This development took place over many years. By trial and error, experimenting over the years and having more stories to tell. I use fantastic techniques from traditional functional pottery (Bernard Leach and Shōji Hamada) and then always seek to expand my horizon of knowledge.
How is your craft linked to where you live and work?: It is linked to my interior realm, my brain. But long, hard winters are the basis of the culture here, and how people survive in the small mountain village. That hard work has created the culture I am part of. Everything I do is a metaphor for my culture.
How do strength and vulnerability coexist in your work?: It is about life itself: a fragile balance between death and life, cosmos and chaos, where something must happen. I am looking for that fine line because I have nothing to lose but everything to win. If I think I have something to lose, I am screwed.

Torbjørn Kvasbø is a master artisan: he began his career in 1978 and he started teaching in 1996