Karen Swami plays with matters, oxides and flames. Embracing sandstone and earthenware, she transcends the know-hows, refining shapes and enhancing colours. The pot becomes a work of art, fragile, unique and mighty. If her inspiration came from the contemplation of Etruscan vases, whose games of light and shadow she absorbed, she breaks free, opting for sumptuous contemporary curves and lines. The ceramic is part of the serie Touareg made of Wheelthrown stoneware, smoke fired. For decorative purpose only. One of a kind.
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As an ESCP-EAP business school graduate, Karen Swami has led a career that has taken her from the world of finance to film production, yet never without a potter’s wheel at hand. Her passion for clay began at the age of 5 and never stopped. In parallel to her studies, she gained a certificate of professional competence. Increasingly larger pieces slowly invaded her space and her time, seducing art collectors and propelling her forward into the world of ceramic art. Black stoneware, white bisque porcelain, cobalt blue or celadon-green, colours and shapes reminiscent of ancient dynasties have made their way into her work. To touch, to throw, to smooth, to incise, to encrust, each step requires a movement. In the firing processes, oxidation-reduction reactions play their role, altering glazes and nuancing colours of pots and jars.
It has become clear to Karen Swami that the same way her work needs oxygen, she needs her work, a way of breathing, an asceticism she welcomes. At one with the clay, she leaves behind an irrefutable trace.
Karen Swami plays with matters, oxides and flames. Embracing sandstone and earthenware, she transcends the know-hows, refining shapes and enhancing colours. The pot becomes a work of art, fragile, unique and mighty. If her inspiration came from the contemplation of Etruscan vases, whose games of light and shadow she absorbed, she breaks free, opting for sumptuous contemporary curves and lines.
Her motto: “Thoughts create matter”.
