25/05/2012

Ceramics and Stoneware by Matthias Kaiser

I’ve known and cooperated with Matthias Kaiser for quite a while now, he’s a great guy with a unique talent. If you haven’t seen his works before Matthias makes porcelain objects such as vases and bowls, he also produces stoneware items like teapots and plates, sometimes you may even see him dabble in sculpture. Why I find him interesting is because of his life story and his general aesthetic, I’m always amazed by the background of some of the greatest artists and the locations that they visit to get their training and inspiration. Usually travel is a common theme amongst them all, it’s very much an empowering part of life. Just soaking up all the culture.

Matthias in-particular studied at Parsons school of design in New York and then moved onto Vienna’s university of applied arts. After that he decided to apprentice with two Japanese master potters in Seto and Karatsu, spending a combined 2 years of travelling on the indian subcontinent. To this day he still makes pots for a living and he’s highly inspired by shape and surface, texture and colour, weight and size. I guess the nice thing about this line of work is that there are an infinite possibilites to what you can make, and if you’re using your hands none of the pieces will be exactly 100% the same, always a slight inconsistency which gives each one it’s own special character.

So today I recommend you all to head across to his portfolio and have a glance at the different sections on his website, he’s got a great selection of items that I would love to own. So quirky but functional at the same time, each has their own personality and Matthias makes a point of trying to reveal and not hide what process the forms have taken. I’ve tried to select some of my favourite pieces but there are plenty more on his website to admire.

www.matthiaskaiser.com