For Natalie Weinberger, Brooklyn-based ceramic artist, pottery is about compromising aesthetic and function, and quoting the past while making objects that feel contemporary. Although her oeuvre has been guided by utilitarian modes in creating structurally perfect forms of everyday minimalist objects, her recent works explore some new approaches.
Finding beauty in the natural materials and reference in the history, Natalie Weinberger’s sophisticated pottery truly celebrates one of the world’s oldest crafts. Educational background in historic preservation has a strong influence on artist’s work, and her ceramic objects often have an appearance of some other, lost time. Like every prominent potter, Natalie deeply appreciates supplies that become alive after modelling and firing. Exquisite craftsmanship also involves unusual blend of materials- a mixture of recycled stoneware, porcelain scraps, and black volcanic sand is used to create raw texture on her utilitarian creations. Therefore, timeless is not solely an adjective that describes these sturdy objects by aesthetic set of principles. In a latest collection “Big Foot”, she curiously discovers the forms of wheel-thrown stemware, which she finds at the same time “elegant and absurd”. There is also an ongoing collaboration with product designer Ana Kras on “Family”, a modular group of abstract tableware.
All images © Natalie Weinberger
