Page 92 - ArtUnlimited

BEttiNA KocAK

Lives and works in Frankfurt am Main, germany
www.goldgrubenkeramik.de

I mainly do pre- and early history pottery, focusing on the celtic Hallstatt era The resulting unique piece has a personality of its own and, just like its
(800-450 BCE). Based on excavation reports I create reconstructions and model, carries slight intentional irregularities, traces of manual work.
their development, always without a pottery wheel, just like their models. Each closer look will reveal a new detail – and will thus bring the piece of
Before setting out to work, I will allow a piece to impress me, in order to, pottery to life.
hopefully, understand it in its entirety. Then I strive to reflect the impression Take, for example, a piece of Alb-Hegau ceramics painted in graphite red: it
it made on me in my piece of pottery. takes days, weeks even of experimenting before I feel I have at least come
close to techniques long forgotten.
And it is quite wonderful indeed to witness timeless beauty and to be able to
revive it through my pottery. I consider myself a true transmitter of ancient
European traditions. I recapture forms and techniques to carry them into
the future, through my vessels, and I feel part of this transmission process.
The pottery presented here mainly refers to the Hallstatt era. Princely
tombs of the Iron Age appear during this epoch and we can actually talk
about the first Celts then. Mostly, the pieces I show here are not domestic
pottery found in settlements (villages/towns). They are rather pieces which
were discovered in burial mounds - as burial objects. I produce two types of
ceramic: with the original-techniques (low temperature, graphite painting)
and the development - with modern techniques (high temperature, shiny
engobes, vessel shapes are glazed inside).

 sTEppED pLATE, 2013 CERAMIC (SHINY ENgOBES) Ø18 IN. | Ø46 CM.
 VEssEL, 2012 CERAMIC (SHINY ENgOBES, INSIDE gLAzED) Ø16.5 IN. | Ø42 CM.
 pLATE, 2011 CERAMIC (gRAPHITE-PAINTED) Ø12.5 IN. | Ø32 CM.

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