Hand and Heart – a ceramic unity
31 January – 14 August 2016
Ceramics from Hans and Birgitte Börjeson bear the unassuming stamp FULBY, which is the name of the village outside Sorø where they live and work. Back in 1963, the couple bought the former local school there, and over all the years it has been a secure, creative framework for both their family life and shared workshop. In keeping to the pottery tradition and their joint mentors Harry and May Davis from Crowan Pottery in Cornwall, the small FULBY stamp refers then to the place where the ceramics is created. But the stamp is also an indication that it is unimportant to know who does what in the process from the kneading of the clay until the stoneware has been finally fired.
This unity and the passion for ceramics as a craft have been Hans and Birgitte’s life-long driving force. In the early years they made thousands of utility items of stoneware that were fired with black tenmoku glaze in their self-built oil-fired kiln. At the same time, they also produced plates, bowls and dishes that had a green celadon glaze.
In the mid 1980s, the salt adventure begins. With the first firing of salt glaze, there is no way back. The salt-glazed stoneware contains all the challenges and possibilities the two ceramists could wish for. New materials, techniques and colours are tried out and tested endlessly, something which the many glaze books with notes about every single slipping and firing bear witness to.
In the world of ceramics, Hans and Birgitte Börjeson have long since firmly established their position. Especially with their eminent salt-glazed pieces, where internationally speaking they rank among the most supreme exponents of this difficult technique. For more than 50 years, they have developed a technical expertise and a unique artistic idiom in which the utility function of the ceramics and the distinctiveness of the technique form a symbiosis with their personal aesthetics. With a profound love of the possibilities that clay offers and the many challenges involved in the ceramic process, they uphold the art craft and its traditions.
With a genuine love of the material as their springboard, they create their functional, beautiful utility items and unique pieces at the studio FULBY. From the easily recognisable ‘spirited’ jugs and characteristic pie forms with their decoration of lovely colours and geometric patterns to the monumental works that include ceramic columns, reliefs and other striking decorations designed for buildings and urban spaces.
THE ART OF SALTING
Salt-glazed stoneware is easily recognised by a granulated surface that is reminiscent of the peel on an orange. And unlike other forms of glazing, salt-glazing emphasises all the traces and structures in the clay. Nothing is erased or invisible. On the contrary. Joints, furrows and construction stand out as clear markings in the finished product. This is due to the nature of the material, and is one of the reasons why Hans and Birgitte are fascinated by the salt.At the same time, salt-glazing calls for great technical expertise and an intuitive feeling for form and decoration.