16 may 2023, Wouter van den Eijkel
The studio of... Kirsten Spuijbroek
With her solo exhibition Pondering Haven, Kirsten Spuijbroek wanted to “create a haven for contemplation, a landing spot where everything comes to a standstill.” In other words, a haven of peace in the hectic pace of everyday life. This Rotterdam artist, who explores themes such as mourning and loss, developed a new glazing technique for Pondering Haven. The result includes two man-sized columns made of ceramic floral wreaths. The flower is Spuijbroek's archetype. “To me, flowers symbolise life itself, reflecting a beauty that is transient through time.” Spuijbroek's work is also in the spotlight beyond the national borders. In July, she was even a candidate for the prestigious Italian Premio Faenza, one of the most important awards for contemporary ceramic art. Pondering Haven is on display at Roof A in Rotterdam through 1 July.
Kirsten Spuijbroeks her studio
Where is your studio located?
My studio can be found in Rotterdam South on Gouwstraat in Oud Charlois. Lots of other artists live and work here. Charlois was once an independent village and that village vibe can still be felt.
What does it look like? Do you have your own oven or do you bake your ceramics elsewhere?
My studio is in a former shop with large windows and lots of light. It’s only a three-minute walk from home, so it’s practically a home studio. It has a good number of square meters, but because I share my studio with my partner, it’s also a bit cramped. We’re constantly trying to make room for my spatial work, the numerous buckets of porcelain, two ovens, a goldsmith’s workbench, a wide collection of power tools, storage facilities and a work table. In a few weeks, we’ll have more space when the adjacent building becomes part of our studio. I’ll be moving into that space, where there will be a new, large oven and more room for larger work.
Kirsten Spuijbroek, Pondering Haven, 2022, ROOF-A
For Pondering Haven, you made two columns of ceramic flower wreaths. According to the press release, they interact with the gallery itself, located in the Scheepvaart district. Can you explain this?
My starting point was to create a haven for contemplation, a landing spot where everything comes to a standstill, a meditative haven to return to. That’s something that is lacking in cities and modern life. Thanks to the gallery's surroundings, the work has a natural connection with the harbour. As a port city, Rotterdam is where lots of different ships moor. A ship docks in the port, is unloaded and then sails on with new cargo.
The work consists of two parts, which refer to a gate and the transition from one to the other. This transition is also reflected in the colour gradient.
What was the most difficult thing to make for this exhibition?
At the end of last year, I concluded a residency at the EKWC (European Ceramic Work Centre) in Oisterwijk, where I did extensive research into glazing. The results are on display at ROOF-A. These show that experiments with minor differences in, for example, composition and raw material can lead to completely different outcomes. This illustrates an infinity of possibilities.
Kirsten Spuijbroek, FACSZES, 2022, ROOF-A
The glaze I have developed is intended to connect individual porcelain parts and unlike the usual applications of glaze, also forms a direct part of the shape of the sculptures. This material is a gloopy glaze with cratering that can connect structures. It symbolises the healing of a damaged person who knows how to make new connections with him or herself and the surroundings.
I used this material, the glaze, to make a wall installation. The first part, three large sculptures, were made in Oisterwijk, where I could use the ovens. Normally, I think everything through very carefully beforehand, including every little detail, with minimal room for changes, but with these large and heavy wall sculptures, I waited with figuring out the hanging system. It was quite a puzzle, but I pulled it off!
Kirsten Spuijbroek her studio
Writer Dirk van Weelden wrote that with your work, everything starts with flowers, such as the flowers in Pondering Haven. Do you consider the flower an archetype?
The flower plays the leading role in all my work, in which I often refer to loss and grief in the broadest sense of the word. For this theme, I use, among other things, ceramics, such as porcelain. In these ceramic images, I often use real flowers. To me, flowers symbolise life itself, reflecting a beauty that is transient through time. Flowers, like people, are perishable. Porcelain makes it possible to visually 'freeze' transience for eternity as it were, unlike with real flowers. The sculptures reflect a transient beauty and vulnerability with which I express the stillness, stagnation and reflection that mourning entails.
You have a fascination for the human psyche and deep emotions. Is the flower the perfect metaphor for this?
In my work, the absence of anything that was once perceptible seems to manifest itself in the empty residual spaces of the sculptures. For me, these symbolise the vacuum that arises when something or someone has disappeared. This inner loss, which everyone is confronted with sooner or later and is an essential part of our lives, is rarely shown to the outside world. In a very personal process in which I personally struggle with this vacuum, I look for ways to make processes related to grief bearable and/or understandable. My work also reflects on the often fast-paced lives we lead, with less and less room for reflection. My work can be experienced as a journey of discovery in which the viewer has the opportunity to reflect on inner losses and/or shortcomings.
Kirsten Spuijbroek, Elements, 2022, ROOF-A
Pondering Haven consists of ceramic works. Is there any material you would like to work with in the future?
Although my work currently consists primarily of porcelain, I have extensive knowledge of and experience with a diverse range of materials: plastic, wood, precious and other metals, and textiles. But I feel very comfortable with moulding clay. I simply haven’t gotten bored with it yet. The possibilities are literally endless and I want to delve deeper into them. With the series of sculptures I'm working on right now, I'm exploring how far I can go without the entire composition collapsing.
What are you currently working on?
I'm still expanding my knowledge of glaze and will be taking classes for a year with a focus on experimentation. I’m embarking on this experimentation as part of a community of international artists based on instructions and guidelines. Everyone in the group has their own preferences, experience and knowledge. The results of the experiments and ideas are shared with the group. I am certain that lessons learned from this experimentation will be reflected in future work.
Kirsten Spuijbroek, Elements, 2022, ROOF-A
