Malene Hartmann Rasmussen
Fieldwork - In the Footsteps of Gertrud Kudielka
2022/2022
About:
During the winter and spring of 2022, I was invited by Bornholms Museum to live and work at Hjorths Keramikfabrik.
Since childhood, I have been fascinated by animals. Animals often take centre stage in my artwork, serving as powerful tools for expressing emotions sculpturally and artistically. Over the years, the ceramic factories on Bornholm have produced a myriad of animal sculptures. From Hjorth's own Gertrud Kudielka's folk-art-inspired animals, to Hans Ancher Wolfsen's fantastically powerful octopuses for Søholm, to Knud Basse's cute playful bear cubs. It therefore felt natural that the animal should be the focal point of my artist stay at Hjorths. With me to Bornholm, I had my own little animal, Django the dog. While he warmed himself in front of the cast iron stove, I began working in the workshop. In addition to finding inspiration in the factory collection, I made weekly visits to the agricultural museum – Melstegård, to study the animals in the field. During the day at the factory, Django and I would take a coffee break in the garden. While the dog did his thing, I studied the bushes and trees of the garden. As the months went on and winter turned into spring, buds sprouted into leaves and flowers. Manager of Hjorths Fabrik Karina Skibby, threw on the pottery wheel, a series of vases based on my designs and in the style of skønvirke (Scandinavian art nouveau). I used these as a canvas for a series of artwork inspired by the garden at Hjorths Keramikfabrik.
The animal figurines of artists are in their form a fabricated representation of nature. In this project, my intention has been, not only to be inspired by the animal figurines of Hjorth and the ceramic factories in Bornholm, but also to peel away the artist's interpretation and aesthetics, in order to discover the essence of the animal as I see it. During my artist stay, I visited the Agricultural Museum - Melstedgård weekly. Inspired by the approach of the fine art painter who sought out his subjects in nature and painted them on the spot, I modelled animal sketches in situ, both in the barn and on the field; the horse, the cow, the bull, the goat, the buck, the pig and the chickens. In the field I made observations about their anatomy, movements, and behaviour patterns, which found their way into the more elaborate artwork I created back in the workshop at Hjorths. From the first day I fell in love with the little goat kid, who was the only one left of a whole litter. It jumped and leapt about, full of wildness and joy, and found safety and tranquillity with its mother when it was nursed, followed by a well-deserved rest in the grass. Standing tall, the goat kid gazed towards the distant horizon and new adventures.
During the winter and spring of 2022, I was invited by Bornholms Museum to live and work at Hjorths Keramikfabrik.
Since childhood, I have been fascinated by animals. Animals often take centre stage in my artwork, serving as powerful tools for expressing emotions sculpturally and artistically. Over the years, the ceramic factories on Bornholm have produced a myriad of animal sculptures. From Hjorth's own Gertrud Kudielka's folk-art-inspired animals, to Hans Ancher Wolfsen's fantastically powerful octopuses for Søholm, to Knud Basse's cute playful bear cubs. It therefore felt natural that the animal should be the focal point of my artist stay at Hjorths. With me to Bornholm, I had my own little animal, Django the dog. While he warmed himself in front of the cast iron stove, I began working in the workshop. In addition to finding inspiration in the factory collection, I made weekly visits to the agricultural museum – Melstegård, to study the animals in the field. During the day at the factory, Django and I would take a coffee break in the garden. While the dog did his thing, I studied the bushes and trees of the garden. As the months went on and winter turned into spring, buds sprouted into leaves and flowers. Manager of Hjorths Fabrik Karina Skibby, threw on the pottery wheel, a series of vases based on my designs and in the style of skønvirke (Scandinavian art nouveau). I used these as a canvas for a series of artwork inspired by the garden at Hjorths Keramikfabrik.
The animal figurines of artists are in their form a fabricated representation of nature. In this project, my intention has been, not only to be inspired by the animal figurines of Hjorth and the ceramic factories in Bornholm, but also to peel away the artist's interpretation and aesthetics, in order to discover the essence of the animal as I see it. During my artist stay, I visited the Agricultural Museum - Melstedgård weekly. Inspired by the approach of the fine art painter who sought out his subjects in nature and painted them on the spot, I modelled animal sketches in situ, both in the barn and on the field; the horse, the cow, the bull, the goat, the buck, the pig and the chickens. In the field I made observations about their anatomy, movements, and behaviour patterns, which found their way into the more elaborate artwork I created back in the workshop at Hjorths. From the first day I fell in love with the little goat kid, who was the only one left of a whole litter. It jumped and leapt about, full of wildness and joy, and found safety and tranquillity with its mother when it was nursed, followed by a well-deserved rest in the grass. Standing tall, the goat kid gazed towards the distant horizon and new adventures.