Floating Lightness
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“Without wishing to boast, I want to say that this trembling and timeless silence is precisely what I wish to be found in my works. It is not an intellectual need, but simply an unconscious need – a need not to forget, a need to remember again and again.” The ceramic artist Alev Siesbye (b. 1938) is known for her ethereal style. Born in Turkey, she attended the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts, but travelled to Denmark in the early 1960s because she was interested in the simple Nordic idiom being conveyed by the architects and artists of the time. With her knowledge of ancient design and colouring, Siesbye introduced a brand-new style not previously seen in Danish decorative art. After working at Kähler and the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Factory (now Royal Copenhagen Denmark), she established her own workshop in Copenhagen in 1969 and made her début at Charlottenborg’s Autumn Exhibition in 1971. Through her many years of work, Alev Siesbye has really perfected her craft. Nothing is out of balance in her works, and the bowls seem to float above the surface of the table. If you take the time to think more about the technique, you cannot help but be fascinated by the floating expression and lightness. The glazing is kept to a muted colour palette, and the cool, monochrome shades contribute to the understated look. Alev Siesbye combines Mediterranean colours with Nordic simplicity, and over five decades she has created ceramic works which, despite their unfamiliar appearance, have had a great influence on Danish decorative arts and can be seen in museums and galleries all over the world today. In recent years, her minimalist masterpieces have really caught the eye of international collectors on the auction market. |