CLAUDIA VON BOCH

“The geological strata contain the history of the Earth. Chronologically inscribed through to the accumulation of successive deposits of minerals, the layers tell us its history…”

Trinh Xuan Thuan

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Geology is an important part of my work as I begin by making my by reclaiming/recycling scraps of clays, engobes and enamels recovered from my own studio. These clay material are layered thus reproducing phenomena of geological strata found in mountains and rocks.  As in the process of producing ceramics, geological formations are a non-static occurences that can be described as almost living as they are transformed by the action of time, erosion, pressure and heat. This source of inspiration is at the origin of sculptures and objects which reproduce this effect of stratification becoming themselves geological frescoes, reproductions of a time shortened compared to that of nature, and where the partially controlled hasards of the firing causes fusions, deformations, colours, drippings and fissures.

This process also encompasses the human being, because without the Earth we would not exist…but then, what would be of the Earth if the human being was not there to imagine it, understand it and model it? My characters and objects are witnesses of this association. The strata, like a skin preserves in it the stages of the life and the time and tell a history.  Such is the human being…layer upon layer, each layer will impact on the being and forms a whole that is a frail and intimate link to the terrestrial world, to the world of Gaia, the Mother Earth of Greek mythology.

Sculptures and objects are made from stoneware and recycled clay materials. They are fired at 1200°C in oxidation, most of the time left un-glazed.

BIO

Born in Canada in 1957, I discovered ceramics in Argentina where I grew up and lived for 23 years. Maybe influenced by the fact that my family has been involved in industrial ceramics (Villeroy&Boch) since eight generations, clay has become my most faithful companion since I was young. At first a hobby, I then became autodidact taking ceramic courses, learning technology and wheel throwing with Argentine ceramicists.

In 1990 I moved to Switzerland with my family. It was only after arriving in Switzerland in 1990 that I aimed to become a professional ceramicist. After a year at Céruleum Visual Arts School of Lausanne (1994-95) I obtained a Bachelor Degree in ceramics from the Applied Arts School of Vevey (1995-99).

For 25 years I taught ceramics to adults and children all the while developing my own creations in my studio, L’Atelier Gaïa. As of 2019 I stopped teaching although I continue to do occasional workshops (raku, mold-making). Currently I share my time between a studio in Switzerland and a second studio in the Piemont, Italy. My sculptures have been exhibited in Switzerland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Italy, Croatia, US and Canada.