about

FRÉDERIQUE VANVLASSELAER

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Fréderique Vanvlasselaer (BE) began making ceramics as a self-taught artist where she enjoyed uninhibited experimentation, often with surprising results. Later she enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent to master the basic principles and techniques. This knowledge helped her to further explore the boundaries of the possible and refine her own artistic language. Fréderique Vanvlasselaer works with cast porcelain, a pure earthen product that allows firing at high temperatures creating a thin, strong and translucent object. A special characteristic of porcelain is the remarkable shrinkage that increases proportionally with the size of the object.  This corresponds to a rate between 17 and 20 percent from the molding interface to the final result. This is one reason why porcelain is usually reserved for smaller pieces and is considered the most difficult type of clay to work with. 

In a second phase, Fréderique Vanvlasselaer explores how to apply textures on the surface, playing with the light.  Vanvlasselaer is positively challenged by the apparent contradictions of light and shadow, form and deformation. They make her pursue what she calls the ‘art of imperfection’. “The starting point of this process is set in a world full of opposites that are pitted against each other until they are perfectly balanced. Embracing imperfection creates perfection.”