PORCELAIN Art studio
about
Fréderique Vanvlasselaer has a particular fascination for porcelain. She loves the pure earthen product and its infinite honesty.
FRÉDERIQUE VANVLASSELAER
Fréderique Vanvlasselaer (BE) began making ceramics as a self-taught artist where she enjoyed uninhibited experimentation, often with surprising results. Later she enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent to master the basic principles and techniques. This knowledge helped her to further explore the boundaries of the possible and refine her own artistic language. Fréderique Vanvlasselaer works with cast porcelain, a pure earthen product that allows firing at high temperatures creating a thin, strong and translucent object. A special characteristic of porcelain is the remarkable shrinkage that increases proportionally with the size of the object. This corresponds to a rate between 17 and 20 percent from the molding interface to the final result. This is one reason why porcelain is usually reserved for smaller pieces and is considered the most difficult type of clay to work with.
In a second phase, Fréderique Vanvlasselaer explores how to apply textures on the surface, playing with the light. Vanvlasselaer is positively challenged by the apparent contradictions of light and shadow, form and deformation. They make her pursue what she calls the ‘art of imperfection’. “The starting point of this process is set in a world full of opposites that are pitted against each other until they are perfectly balanced. Embracing imperfection creates perfection.”
Fréderique Vanvlasselaer mainly works with the same color glaze. How differences in application can make the glaze change color and nuance fascinates her enormously. She derives much inspiration from the natural processes that textures go through. For example the effects of decay which cause old layers of paint to peel off, cracks to appear in a wall or pieces of wood to rot.
Fréderique's works are further characterized by their organic signature and refined finish. The organic character translates into soft wavy lines and earthy patterns.
In her Porcelain Art Studio, Fréderique Vanvlasselaer works on limited editions and custom made works. Since 2021, Fréderique Vanvlasselaer has been in partnership with SERAX.