Marianne van Berkel
Ceramics, my passion.
Ceramics, the challenge to turn a piece of raw clay into something beautiful.
Ceramics, looks simply but on the contrary.
My ceramics career started as a hobby but soon I wanted more. After a year joining the Art Academy in Turnhout, I started the Dutch Ceramics Course (NKO) in Gouda in 2014. After the basic training of 3 years, I attended 2 extra specialization years to learn how to make my own glazes and to further deepen the discipline of handbuilding.
My urge for knowledge remained and that is why I attended various masterclasses in the Netherlands and abroad. Within Ceramics there is a large range of possibilities, and it is important to make choices.
I was born and raised in Curaçao. After my studies in the Netherlands, I went back to my native island and worked for many years for various accounting firms.
At the end of 1999 I moved to the Netherlands. Again, I worked for various accounting firms. In 2013 I decided to change my working life and started my great passion. With my hands in the clay instead of my nose in the numbers. This was a liberating feeling, doing what I always wanted to do, working with my hands!
How to turn a piece of raw clay into something beautiful. First you think about what you want to make and then how to make it. For me, an image arises in my head and the challenge is to give shape to this image. If you make a large piece, various challenges must be endured. Gravity plays a big role because the clay tends to collapse. It is also important that the piece has approximately the same thickness. You challenge the boundaries of the material.
To finish the piece after the base has been formed, it is often a long and concentrated work process. The workpiece must be completely dry to fire it in a special kiln. After the first fire, new questions arise. How are you going to decorate the piece? Here, too, many choices must be made. And then comes the second and sometimes more firings.
Currently, my focus is on making busts and heads out of clay. Because of the many years I have lived in Curaçao, my inspiration for these images is the diversity of the islanders. I make sculptures of fictional people, drawing from my memories of the beautiful people of the island. In my sculptures these images, the variety of facial features and expressions come to life.
For me it is important that a face “speaks”. That when you look at the sculpture, you get a certain feeling about the person. Who is he or she, what does the person remind me of, what do I feel when I look at the sculpture.
I am also inspired by other cultures, people who I met during my many travels. The ethnic and tribal art intrigues me.
Other ceramic work are my pieces where the geometric and natural shapes of nature have inspired me. Sometimes I make functional work.
I also love working with different kinds of firing techniques such as raku firing, wood burning and pitfire. At those times we usually come together as a group of ceramists who share the same passion.
One thing is for sure, my creative and learning path is far from over!