Mieke - Nerikomi Ceramic Trinket with Foot
€39.00

1 in stock

Details

 

Material: Speckled Stoneware and Black Stoneware & Wild Cray
Approximate Dimensions:
Diameter : 17.5 cm
Height: 5.5 cm

 

 

UNIQUE! There is only one single trinket, so you will be getting the one photographed!

 

Please take into consideration that this item is handmade. Therefore, dimensions & colors may slightly vary from item to item. There is also a chance that the item you receive is not the exact same as the one photographed (unless otherwise stated), so if the glaze has spots or crystals, their positioning will be different from item to item. This makes each and every one of my objects completely unique :)

 

 

Story

 

This trinket is made from thre different types of clay, a natural-colored one with speckles, a black one, and some Wild Clay, and is done using the Japanese hand-building technique called Nerikomi.

This year, I took it upon myself to try a lot of different things in the area of clay, I want to expand my experience inventory and also get the chance to play with other ways of making things with ceramics. Nerikomi has been in my radar for a while and I have been wanting to try this technique for a long time. My former studio mate, Agnes, introduced me to it and I always thought it to be so cool, but I always thought that maybe that was not for me, because it is so time-intensive.

Some years later, I finally had the gut! I tried different patterns and played with the possibilities that this technique brings, these trinkets are my entry for this technique. My trial canvas for bigger things if you will.

I named them Mieke, after an awesome Belgian ceramicist who does the most beautiful Nerikomi pieces!

I am completely in love with these trinkets (surely I will be keeping one for myself!). I hope you love them as much as I do and enjoy the deepness of their patterns shown on the front and the back!

For the Wild Clay edition I wrote this beautiful text

This month, I had the privilege of learning about wild clay with Anja Slapnicar.

Not only was it fun, but it was also very insightful! I seriously learned a lot ♥︎ It ignited a spark of exploration and curiosity, for which I am very grateful. I’ve discovered more about myself through this process.

I took that spirit of exploration to my studio and used some leftovers from the Slovenian clay we worked with during the workshop, integrating them into my practices. One of the things I curiously experimented with was my famous Nerikomi trinkets, which I like to call Mieke.

I mixed a small piece of wild clay into the two clays I use in my studio, adding a new color and texture to these trinkets. This made them more interesting, mysterious, and fun to touch and feel.

The wild clay in this case is that reddish-brown color you can see integrated into the pieces. The inside of the trinkets is glazed with a transparent glaze, which deepens the color, making it richer and more intense. However, the backside wins my heart—the subtle orange mixed with the beige and dark gray gives it a musical quality. The different textures of all three clays also vary greatly, but these variations are only slightly visible and can be felt when you touch the back of the Mieke trinket.

Another characteristic I found fun and almost poetic is that the wild clay’s radically different shrinkage rate before firing caused the other clays to move in its direction. Weirdly, it feels like not only did I shape these with my hands, but I also collaborated with the clays to achieve the final form of these trinkets.

I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love these and am fascinated by them (if you couldn’t tell from this near love letter I wrote)

I am very thankful to have learned more about clay and myself through Anja & Anja ♥︎

 

Care

 

  • This item is dishwasher & microwave-safe, however, washing it by hand is always better for its longevity.
  • This item is watertight.

 

 

Disclaimer: Use for decoration purposes.