Wietske van Leeuwen (1965) has been making three-dimensional ceramic collages–or assemblages–for years. She works in the tradition of collage artists, such as the Renaissance painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo and Surrealists such as Max Ernst and René Margritte. Raw, formless clay is no use to her. She must first mould it into fruits and other objects before she gets to work. Among the items she casts in multiples in clay and arranges in rows or stacks are shells, lemons, bell peppers, coiled rope and the stems of drinking glasses and weeds such as hogweed. The resulting objects are usually dishes or lidded pots. They are showpieces: centrepieces that function as conversation pieces. This makes her a classic ceramicist with a style all of her own.

Press release courtesy Brutto Gusto. Text: Thimo te Duits.