Sebastian Stöhrer

The departure point for these alluring, expressive, odd, surreal and humorous sculptures was the basic form of the vase – a free standing object with a potentially water-holding orifice – and it is very much a departure point. For these sculptures are clearly an extended private world of forms, conjured from the free-play and intuitive qualities of clay, that have their own life beyond their simple antecedental template.

If the colouring and surfaces of the sculptures seem possibly unseen that’s because they probably are. Taking an experimental, auto-didactic approach to the formulation and application of glazes – breaking rules and inventing new ones – Stöhrer uses less stabiliser and fires at higher temperatures to create greater degrees of both viscosity and vitreousness. This plasticity of the glazes marries perfectly with the inchoate nature of clay which lends itself equally to spontaneity and improvisation. And in fact the type of clay employed and the high firing temperature leads the glaze to sit less on the surface of the clay than is typical, becoming instead a more complete fusion with the clay.

The introduction of the wood comes in part from Stöhrer’s interest in bent willow furniture and from an initial accidental use of a cane to support a sculpture in progress. It’s likely too that Stöhrer wants to interfere with the traditions and conservative values of ceramics. The inclusion of twigs, complete with lichen now forever persevered under a layer of varnish, brings the sculptures full circle back to nature and the earth formed materiality of the work.

Sebastian Stöhrer (b. Freiburg, 1968) studied at Städelschule Frankfurt, 1993-1999. He lives and works in Frankfurt. This is his first solo exhibition at the gallery.