Insulator Vases for Cor Unum

During an Artist in Residence period in Jingdezhen, China, David Derksen has worked on several new ceramic designs. While working in this unofficial world capital of porcelain, he stumbled on some beautiful cylindrical shapes at a local production facility. These parts turned out to be rejected electrical insulators that were being used otherwise; as stacking material for loading kilns.

Based on these industrial shapes, a series of vases has been designed, consisting out of two forms. These forms are then altered, by cutting away parts of the clay along the grid of the moulding lines and the ribs. Partly dipping the basic shape in a coloured glaze is a second alteration that optically cuts the shape into two parts.

Photo by Marije Kuiper