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Biography

Caroline Slotte - Artists + Designers - Hostler Burrows

Caroline Slotte (b. 1975, Helsinki, Finland) excavates antique plates and china tableware, subtracting matter to render intricate, sandblasted lines and ghostly tracings. Her delicate yet densely-layered patterns interrupt the material coherence of these common objects, revealing moments of absence, ambiguity, and blankness. These acts of redaction underscore the curious nature of mass-produced decorative objects; by taking away layers of glaze and clay, Slotte draws our attention to their stylized forms and materiality, as in Delftware ceramics with their familiar yet distant landscapes. Each of her scenes, as though sculpted by erosion, becomes a uniquely altered variation on the theme. In doing so, her artworks broaden our attention to address questions of cultural association, material memory, and the inevitable losses and transformations of time.

Slotte is a member of the Arabia Art Department Society in Helsinki, Finland, where she maintains a studio. She has exhibited widely in exhibitions at the Everson Museum, the Espoo Museum of Modern Art, the XXII Triennale di Milano, and the Cheongju International Craft Biennale in South Korea. Her work is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, and the Museum of Decorative Arts in Oslo. She graduated from the department of ceramics and glass at Designskolen Kolding in 1998 and received an MA and PhD in ceramic art from the Bergen Academy of Art and Design.

CV

CAROLINE SLOTTE
b. 1975, Helsinki, Finland

EDUCATION
2011    PhD, Bergen Academy of Art and Design, Dept. of Ceramic Art, Bergen, Norway

2003    MA, Bergen Academy of Art and Design, Dept. of Ceramic Art, Bergen, Norway

1998    BA, Design School Kolding, Dept. of Ceramics and Glass, Kolding, Denmark

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023    There Is Constantly Something Happening, Gallery Format, Oslo, Norway
            There Is Constantly Something Happening, Peach Corner, Copenhagen, Denmark
2018    Riska & Slotte, Gallery Format, Oslo, Norway
2016    Pages, Konsthantverkarna, Stockholm, Sweden
2014    Caroline Slotte, Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo, Norway
2010    Going Blank Again, Gallery s.e., Bergen, Norway
2009    Biennale Exhibition, Porsgrunn Art Society, Porsgrunn, Norway
2007    Beyond Blue Skies, Arabia Museum Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2006    On Grandmother’s Porch, Sinne Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2003    Re: presentations, Gallery Artisaani, Helsinki, Finland
2001    Multiple Me, Gallery Artisaani, Helsinki, Finland
2000    Terra Fragilis, Gallery Septaria, Helsinki, Finland

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023    Sustainable Ceramics, Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics, Leeuwarden, The 
            Netherlands
            Life Cycles: The Materials of Contemporary Design, Museum of Modern Art,
            New York, NY
            Pohjoista leveyttä/Nordlig latitud/Northern Latitude, Design LAB Galleri,
            Helsinki, Finland
2021    Särkyvää: Ceramics Facing the New, Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo, Finland
2020–2021 Broken Nature, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
2020    Miniatyr, Lokal, Helsinki, Finland
2019–2020 Earth Piece, Everson Museum, Syracuse, NY
2019    Broken Nature: Design Takes on Human Survival, XXII Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy
            Keep Your Garden Alive, The Finnish Cultural Institute, Paris, France and Spazio Nobile, 
            Brussels, Belgium
            Helsinki Fat Clay, Blås & Knåda, Stockholm, Sweden
2018    Hjemmets skatter, Blaafarveværket, Modum, Norway
            Revive, Remix, Respond, The Frick Pittsburgh, PA
2017–2018 The Women, Ferrin Contemporary, North Adams, MA
2017    Visioning Future Through Craft and Design: Cheongju International Craft Biennale,
            Cheongju, South Korea
            Oi Suomi, Katso, Lokal, Helsinki, Finland
            New York Ceramics & Glass Fair, Bohemian National Hall, New York, NY
2016    Collective Design Fair with Gallery Format, Skylight Clarkson Square, New York, NY
            At Your Service, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, TX
            Re: Reanimate, Repair, Mend and Meld, Ferrin Contemporary, North Adams, MA
2015    Drawing, National Glass Centre, Sunderland, UK
            My Blue China!, Bernardaud Foundation, Limoges, France
            Zwinger und Ich, Bomuldsfabrikken Kunsthall, Arendal, Norway
            Collect: The International Art Fair for Contemporary Objects with Gallery Format,  
            Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
2014–2015 Transformator, Bomuldsfabrikken Kunsthall, Arendal, Norway and  
            Hydrogenfabrikken Gallery, Fredrikstad, Norway
2014    Ceramics & Space, Design Museum, Helsinki, Finland
            Helsinki Fat Clay, Galerie Marianne Heller, Heidelberg, Germany
            Helsinki Fat Clay, Arabia Museum Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
            At Your Service, Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA
2013    Vociferous Void, The British Ceramics Biennial, Spode Factory,
            Stoke-on-Trent, UK
            Horizon, The Museum of Decorative Arts, Oslo, Norway
            Tendencies – Tenderness, Galleri F15, Moss, Norway
            New Blue-and-White, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
2012    Collect: The International Art Fair for Contemporary Objects with
            Galerie Sofie Lachaert, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
            Helsinki Fat Clay, Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche, Faenza, Italy
            and Galleria Officine Saffi, Milan, Italy
            Conceptual Ceramics, Vendsyssel Museum of Art, Hjørring, Denmark
            Making Knowledge, Gustavsbergs Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden
2011–2012 The Tool at Hand, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI; The Museum of 
            Contemporary Craft, Portland, OR; The Houston Center for Contemporary 
            Craft, Houston, TX; and the Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA
            Thing Tang Trash, The West Norway Museum of Decorative Art, Bergen, Norway
2011    Between Tradition and Future: Cheongju International Craft Biennale, Cheongju, 
            South Korea
            Collect: The International Art Fair for Contemporary Objects with Gallery Norsu,  
            Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
            Blue, Flow Gallery, London, UK

2010    Collect: The International Art Fair for Contemporary Objects with Galleri Kunst1,  
            Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
            Currency: Think Tank–A European Initiative for the Applied Arts, Kammerhof 
            Museum, Gmunden, Austria
            Le Cru et le Cuit, Galerie Favardin & de Verneuil, Paris, France
            Korero: Taiwan Ceramics Biennale, Taipei County Yingge Ceramics
            Museum, Taiwan
            Gl’amour, Oulu Museum of Art, Oulu, Finland
            Modus Operandi, Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum, Trondheim, Norway
2009    Collect: The International Art Fair for Contemporary Objects with Galleri Kunst1, 
            Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
            Still, Galerie Sofie Lachaert, Tielrode, Belgium
            Object Factory: The Art of Industrial Ceramics, Museum of Arts and Design,
            New York, NY
2008    Collect: The International Art Fair for Contemporary Objects with Gallery Norsu,
            The Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
            Otto, Vantaa Art Museum, Vantaa, Finland
2007    Tendenser, Gallery F15, Moss, Norway
            Present, Gallery Bomuldsfabriken, Arendal, Norway
2006    Languages: Think Tank–A European Initiative for the Applied Arts
            Design Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark

DESIGN PROJECTS
2012    Ostindia Floris, Rörstrand, Sweden

COMMISSIONS & COLLABORATIONS
2018    Public Art Commission in collaboration with architect Ruusa Viljanen Rossi, Kvarteret 
            Victoria, Helsinki, Finland
2013–2019 Founding member of the Network for Nordic
            Contemporary Ceramics, an artist led collaboration promoting pan-Nordic reflection
            and discussion on contemporary ceramic art. Activities included workshops, seminars,
            study tours, exhibitions and publications. 
2012–2013 Invited participant in Topographies of the Obsolete: Exploring the Site  
            Specific and Associated Histories of Post-Industry, an artistic research  
            project utilizing the original Spode Factory site in Stoke-on-Trent as a  
            thematic starting point. The project was led by Bergen Academy of Art
            and Design (NO) and included activities such as workshops, seminars,
            exhibitions and publications.

GRANTS
2022    Arts Promotion Centre Finland, 5-year working grant
2015    The Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, 2-year working grant
2014    The Finnish Cultural Foundation, 1-year working grant
            Finnish Cultural Institute in New York, artist-in-residence
            Arts Promotion Centre Finland, project grant
            FRAME, project grant
2012    Ornamo Art and Design Finland
            Arts Promotion Centre Finland, public display grant
            Arts Promotion Centre Finland, project grant
2011    The Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, travel grant
            Konstsamfundet, project grant
2010    The Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, 1-year working grant
2008    The Stina Krook Foundation
2007    The Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, 1-year working grant
            Arts Promotion Centre Finland, project grant
2006–2007 Arabia Art Department Society, artist-in-residence
2006    Sleipnir travel grant
            Arts Promotion Centre Finland, public display grant
            Konstsamfundet, project grant
            The Finnish Cultural Foundation, 1-year working grant
            The Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, travel grant
2004    Sleipnir travel grant
            The Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, working grant
            Konstsamfundet, project grant
2003    City of Helsinki, arts and culture grant
            The Letterstedt Society, travel grant
2002    The Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, study grant
            Konstsamfundet, project grant
2000    Konstsamfundet, project grant
            Arts Council of Uusimaa, project grant
            Svensk-Österbottniska samfundet, project grant    

MEMBERSHIPS
Arabia Art Department Society
Artists O, Finland (Board Member 2011–2012)

Association of Finnish Sculptors
Finnish Association of Designers ORNAMO (Board Member Art Section 2011–2014)

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