DECADES OF DESIGN, NOW A FORM OF MY OWN.

CERAMICS, REDUCED TO FORM, MATERIAL, SILENCE.

EACH OBJECT CARRIES A CODE INSTEAD OF A NAME — A LANGUAGE OF FORM, SURFACE AND MATERIAL, CREATED TO BE SEEN, NOT EXPLAINED.

BIANCA STRAUCH-FREYTAG IS A HAMBURG-BASED CERAMIC ARTIST AND DESIGNER. SINCE 1994, SHE HAS WORKED AS AN INDEPENDENT GRAPHIC DESIGNER IN THE MUSIC AND CULTURAL INDUSTRIES. HER WORK HAS BEEN INTERNATIONALLY PUBLISHED AND RECOGNISED WITH NUMEROUS AWARDS. TOGETHER WITH FRANK MAXIMILIAN FREYTAG, SHE RUNS THE DESIGN STUDIO MJAM MJAM.

SHE BEGAN HER CERAMIC PRACTICE IN 2021. WHAT BEGAN AS A RETURN TO MATERIAL AND PROCESS HAS DEVELOPED INTO AN INDEPENDENT BODY OF WORK.

HER CERAMICS ARE DEFINED BY REDUCED, GEOMETRIC FORMS AND A STRONG ATTENTION TO MATERIAL PRESENCE. WHILE HER DESIGN WORK WAS SHAPED BY VISUAL PRECISION, ARTIFICIAL COLOUR AND GRAPHIC REDUCTION, HER CERAMIC PRACTICE TURNS TOWARDS NATURE, MATERIAL VARIATION AND THE EFFECTS OF FIRE, TIME AND CHANCE.

WORKING EXCLUSIVELY WITH AN ELECTRIC KILN IN OXIDATION FIRING, SHE ACCEPTS TECHNICAL LIMITATION AS PART OF THE PROCESS. INSPIRED BY PRINCIPLES FOUND IN TRADITIONAL GLAZING TECHNIQUES FROM JAPAN AND CHINA, SHE WORKS WITHIN THESE CONDITIONS RATHER THAN ATTEMPTING TO REPRODUCE THEM.

HER WORK EXPLORES THE TENSION BETWEEN CONTROL AND UNPREDICTABILITY, ORDER AND VARIATION, FORM AND SURFACE.

WHAT INTERESTS ME IS NOT EFFECT, BUT PRESENCE.

SHE LIVES AND WORKS IN HER OWN STUDIO IN BLANKENESE, HAMBURG.