BENTE SKJØTTGAARD

Everything is up for negotiation in Bente Skjøttgaard’s work as she surrenders control to the transformative forces of the firing. Behind her seductive glazes lie risk, potential chaos, and collapse. Putting the ceramic processes to the ultimate test, she questions all the material-bound conventions of beauty and ugliness, technical mastery, and any ideas about the ‘result’ of the final expression. Seemingly, the works are made with a “light hand”, this even after what may have been an insanely difficult feat of technical engineering. Skjøttgaard’s process is systematic and always based on the premises of the ceramic material, often balancing on the very edge of what is possible. Her examinations develop into free-form interpretations and amorphous abstractions expressive of nature, generously glazed. The magic of  Skjøttgaard’s works derives precisely from the fact that she so obviously loves risking everything in the interaction with the kiln. Powerful, without caution or reservation - it is all or nothing in ever-on-going experimentation.