Scandinavian design has long been associated with spare minimalism, so the complex, figurative and kitschy ceramics on view at the House of Sweden, the Swedish Embassy’s exhibit hall in Georgetown, come as something of a surprise.
“Voices,” a traveling exhibit organized by Stockholm gallery owner Inger Molin, speaks of a new direction in Swedish crafts by 10 artists who seem to be shouting: “No more vessels.”
Rather than sculpting clay into vases, teapots and other utilitarian containers, these fortysomethings prefer to use the medium for expressing ideas about themselves and the world.
“I work with my inner conflicts,” said Eva Hild, a 41-year-old Swedish artist who was at the exhibit last week. Her sensuously curving sculpture, she said, is about “life flowing in different directions.” The piece on view is titled “Loop 1054” to represent a 1,054-centimeter-long line snaked around the piece.
Reminiscent of bones and shells, Ms. Hild’s hole-filled stoneware shapes are hand-built, sanded and fired, then sanded and fired again. Their delicate, matte surfaces look more like plaster than ceramics.
“Clay is such a plastic medium that allows for the repetition of form,” says 46-year-old Renata Francescon, a Swedish ceramicist who gets her inspiration from Venice, Italy, where she lived for 17 years. One of her modular pieces resembles a miniature building of stacked arches, both inside and out. Another appears to be constructed from layers of rose petals in full bloom.
Both are coated with glazes that resemble cake frosting running down the sides of the pieces. The shiny coatings, which appear to be wet, reinforce the sticky-sweet symbolism of the honeycomb-like arches and floral blooms.
More offbeat is the narrative work of Stockholm-based Frida Fjellman. Her “Triptych” consists of a ceramic volcano topped by a cloud of orange glass; a dead-looking white rabbit and a glass owl suspended next to a pink light bulb. Has the geologic eruption killed the rabbit, or has the wise old bird swooped in to save the day? The humorous piece encourages several interpretations of the story.
Per B. Sundberg, another artist from Stockholm, ventures farther outside the puritanical modernism of Swedish design. His collages of animal figurines and light fixtures are meant to be whimsical challenges to good taste but are more kitschy than clever.
More appealing in their cartoon-like colors and shapes are Pontus Lindvall’s hanging lamps. Streaked with bright colors as if painted from a spray can, their striped shades and covered cords resemble crafts made by street punks.
Soft winter snow is recalled in the arctic white sculptures by AnnaSofia Maag, who hails from northern Lapland. “Form” combines a petal-like dish on top of a large, potato-chip-shaped platter. “Hole” resembles a round disc of ice that has been punctured at the center to allow a winter fishing line to reach the water.
Ms. Maag’s pieces come closest to the clean-lined ceramics of older Scandinavian design, but like the other artworks in this small exhibit, defy the modernist mantra of form follows function.
WHAT: “Voices: Contemporary Ceramic Art From Sweden”
WHERE: House of Sweden, 2900 K St. NW
WHEN: Through Nov. 30; Thursday noon to 6 p.m.; Friday and Saturday noon to 5 p.m.
ADMISSION: Free
PHONE: 202/536-1500
WEB SITE: www.houseofsweden.com
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