Maren Kloppmann

Maren Kloppmann is a Minnesota-based artist renowned for her architectonic porcelain wall sculptures that blur the boundaries between craft, design, and fine art. Both her large and small-scale installations are studies in the reconciliation of biomorphic and architectural structures, creating a visual dialog between their respective aesthetics. Drawing inspiration from modernist architecture and minimalism, Kloppmann describes her approach as “a visual confluence of serendipity and precision, where intuition and intention intersect.” Her attentiveness to the three-dimensional qualities of each installation creates a shifting perception of the given space it occupies. Organic and architectonic at once, her artworks are serene studies in line, shape, and negative space.

Kloppmann began producing abstract ceramic wall sculptures in 2013 following a 17-year career in functional ceramics. Noticing how her wall-mounted sculptures were affected by sunlight and the presence of shadows, she conceived the Shadow Wall Pillow series of porcelain wall installations formed through modular repetition. Employing techniques of slab building, Kloppmann meticulously constructs each wall element to imbue it with individual subtleties, while striving for precision. Her distinct palette of hand-mixed glazes allows for nuanced contrasts and soft tensions that enhance both line and contour.

Kloppmann received her journeyman degree in 1984 from the Bavarian Keramik Handwerkskammer. She arrived in the United States the same year to further her studies in ceramics. Following artist residencies in North Carolina and Michigan, she enrolled in the BFA program at the Kansas City Art Institute, later completing an MFA at the University of Minnesota. Kloppmann currently lives and works in Minneapolis, MN, where she has maintained a full-time studio practice since 1997. A three-time McKnight Fellowship recipient, her awards include a Jerome Fellowship and five Minnesota State Arts Board grants. Her work is represented in numerous private and museum collections including the Crocker Museum of Art, the Frederik R. Weisman Art Museum, the Herberger Museum of Art & Design, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.