This vase was inspired by my balcony in Berlin during the spring time. I have a love for nature but live in the bustling city, and so my approximately 3 square meter balcony is full of plants, veggies and herbs, a little cherry tree small olive tree and lavender. There's also two little bee houses which get up to about 70 bees flying in and out all day working hard. Every year we finish with more and I hope we will need a third bee house soon. I love watching them work and it's one of my most favorite times of the year. The tranquility of watching over these bees is a massive juxtaposition to the roaring transit system nearby.
Contrast is seen throughout the tone of this piece. The black clay and its absence of color leaves clearance for nature to impose its will. The color palate of every flower petal is highlighted not by more, but by less, where the absence of distraction allows the observer to immerse themselves in the untamed wildness of nature. Flower compositions freely express their individual personas.
When holding this vase, the raw, unglazed exterior evokes the sensation of feeling stone in your hand. The contact to the rough earthly texture is grounding, as the beholder observes the sgraffito drawings of flowers and bees wrapping around the vase even closer. White slip brushed on the surface vase creates a high contrast in the expressive, unpolished and emotive sgraffito drawings.
The raw primitivism of the drawing style is in direct contrast to the modern minimalistic shape and form of the vase. Whereas the balance between the two advocates for the appreciation of nature in modern society and for a greater understanding of how architecture shapes our natural world.
