Project Tag: contemporary ceramics

ABOUT

BIO

CV

CAROLINESLOTTE.COM

CAROLINE SLOTTE

b. 1975 Helsinki, Finland
lives and works in Helsinki, Finland

Caroline Slotte holds an MA in Ceramics from Bergen Academy of Art and Design, Norway, in addition to education from Denmark and Finland. From 2007 to 2011 Slotte was a research fellow in the Norwegian Artistic Research Fellowship Programme. Affiliated with Bergen Academy of Art and Design, Dept of Specialised Art, she was also a member of the interdisciplinary research project Creating Art Value, funded by the Research Council of Norway.

The reworking of second hand objects play a pivotal role in Caroline Slotte´s practice. She manipulates found materials, primarily ceramic everyday items, so that they take on new meanings. The tensions between the recognizable and the enigmatic, the ordinary and the unexpected are recurring thematic concerns. More recent explorations reveal an expanded interest in material perception and material recognition, teasing out situations where the initial visual identification fails resulting in an unsettling state of material confusion. Demonstrating an engaged sensitivity towards the associations, memories and narratives inherent in the objects, Slotte´s intricate physical interventions allows us to see things we would otherwise not have seen.

Slotte´s works have been exhibited internationally and acquired by, among others, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Röhsska Museum in Gothenburg, the Design Museum in Helsinki and the Museum of Decorative Arts in Oslo.

ARTIST STATEMENT

The reworking of second hand objects play a pivotal role in my practice. I manipulate found materials, primarily ceramic everyday items, so that they take on new meanings. The tensions between the recognizable and the enigmatic, the ordinary and the unexpected are recurring thematic concerns.

Material has a key role in what I define as my point of departure in contemporary art. It is not, however, merely the physical and aesthetic qualities that interest me, but also the associations and references inherent in the material.

Many of the objects that I choose to rework carry within them a rich history, a cultural background that I can pull from. In that way, I can count on the objects triggering associations and my role in the process becomes one of pointing to the material and the stories inherent in it.

To me choosing a material-based starting point means allowing the work process to take the form of a discussion. It means accepting a certain number of limitations. My main reason for doing so is that I find it intellectually challenging. I set myself a task, and the task is to follow the direction that the material indicates, to allow myself to be led.

–Caroline Slotte, 2014