There’s still life in ceramics

The slow but inexorable might of nature takes shape in the ceramics of Carl Richard Söderström, now showing at the Galerie Nilsson et Chiglien in Paris until 3/3/2012 with his “Nature Morte” exhibition.

After numerous travels in Asia, Swedish sculpture Carl Richard Söderström (1960) has been seduced by nature and the voracity with which it takes possession of places abandoned by man.

His works seem to investigate what would happen if humanity were to vanish from the face of the earth, defeated by that form of life which has always contended domination of the planet, the plant kingdom.

In a matter of months, vegetation would invade streets, buildings, monuments and every manmade construction there is, creating living but decadent sculptures on the ruins of our artifacts.

Visions that Carl then translates to raw, unglazed ceramic that he molds extremely slowly. A process that lets him explore the possibilities of stoneware, and allow blue and black tones to surface on the argil he uses, a black clay from Spain that he fires at 2300°F.

After applying various layers of engobe, Carl covers his pieces with a white glaze that oozes on the black clay creating a three dimensional gelatin effect.