GLAZE STORIES
Nina Malterud (NO)
11 January – 17 February 2024
The exhibition was introduced by curator Jorunn Veiteberg and Norwegian Ambassador to Denmark Katja Nordgaard held the opening address.
Nina Malterud has worked with ceramics for nearly 50 years, and in her native Norway, she is regarded as one of the foremost practitioners in her field. In addition to setting an artistic standard, she has also played a key role in setting the agenda for the development of ceramics as an artistic medium through central positions in education, organizations and the journal Kunsthåndverk (Crafts).
Malterud works with earthenware, often focusing on flat shapes and small formats with references to the classical ceramic repertoire of tiles, tablets and dishes. She experiments with slips and glazes and remains open to the visual effects that sometimes arise through more or less controlled random occurrences. The traces of the process are an important element in the expression of the finished piece.
Layers of glaze interacting through repeated firings produce images and patterns. Sometimes, the visual elements are recognizable as organic plant imagery or geometric stripes, but mostly, Malterud pursues an abstract expression with a sensitivity that incorporates both tender and fragile, strong and juicy qualities. In combination with the characteristic materiality and weight of earthenware, this lends the pieces a powerful sensuous appeal. Even if it may look effortless, it is based on many years of experience, and the result is playful and free.
The exhibition title, Glaze Stories, is taken from a series of new pieces featuring an organic pattern with multiple variations created through a special method for applying glaze on both raw and fired tiles. Another central piece is Victoria, a series of green circles inspired by the giant water lily of the same name. A white, oval wall object called whiteout refers to a weather condition where snow blurs all contours and makes orientation impossible. The serial approach is a characteristic aspect of Malterud’s practice, as she uses a given format and a narrow selection of glazes as a basis for trials and variations. Each of the serial objects is an independent piece in its own right. All the works on display were created between 2020 and 2023.
Since establishing her artistic practice in 1975, Nina Malterud (b. 1951) has been one of Norway’s leading ceramic artists. Her works have been purchased by all the most significant museums, she was the initiator of the journal Kunsthåndverk (Crafts) and has played a central role in the development of artistic research. She trained at the National College of Art and Design in Oslo in 1971–74. From 1994, she was a professor of ceramics at Bergen Academy of Art and Design, where she was rector in 2002–10. In 2022, she held a comprehensive retrospective exhibition at Kode in Bergen. That same year, she received Ulrik Hendriksen’s Honorary Award from the Relief Fund for Visual Artists and was appointed an Officer of the Royal Order of St Olav for her contributions and accomplishments in art education and for her artistic practice.
More info at www.ninamalterud.no
The exhibition was supported by Norwegian Crafts, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Copenhagen.
