Interview

• 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.