Playing with translucency
- Anima makes very thin porcelain bowls with a shadow-effect
- She has been awarded many international prizes
- Her works are in museum collections across Europe
Anima Ross started studying ceramics at the art academy in Ghent. She recalls that, “In those days, working on the potter’s wheel was not offered at an academy of ‘arts’. So, to build up my throwing skills, I travelled to the south of France during the summer, going from village to village, from potter to potter.” Then, she started her own business, went on to teaching, and studied new techniques, becoming increasingly engrossed in porcelain. “For the last ten years I have only worked with porcelain. This ethereal and very demanding material is a challenge for every ceramicist. The pieces are thrown on the wheel, and the throwing must be done without hesitation. Corrections are not possible because porcelain has a ‘memory’: when you make a mistake, it will return after firing.
Interview
- Were you born into a family of artisans?
- No, but my father was a painter, and he taught me a very long time ago. From time to time we could come into his studio and make a painting. But he never let us work before giving us a 'restriction', such as 'make red the dominant colour'.
- What did you learn from your father’s lesson?
- Much later, I understood that a restriction pushes you forward and helps you direct your thoughts and creativity. I have been suffering from severe pain in my back and fingers, but I learned to use my physical limitation to open a new and creative road.
- How do you approach porcelain?
- I am always trying to push the limits of the thickness of the sides, and challenge the laws of gravity. I play with traditional forms and techniques searching for balance, playing with light and shadow. Lines, forms and ideas, preferably in movement... it’s a tightrope walk!
- What aspect of your work is important to you?
- I think the communicative aspect is very important. The interaction between what I mean to make, and what others see in it, is seldom a contradiction, but usually an enrichment. Through this interaction, my work achieves an abstract dimension, which I enjoy.
Anima Roos is a master artisan: she began her career in 1980 and she started teaching in 1986
Works
Where
Anima Roos
