Like most designers I create a mood board each season, to set the tone and vision for the Beklina collection. Images of Danish ceramist Bente Skjøttgaard's work ended up on the Beklina board for FW18, titled Sprezzatura. I could tell you how great her work is; but just have a peek; it speaks for itself.
Angelina: What was your very first job and how old were you?
Bente: Cleaning assistant at a dental clinic, 16-17 years old.
A: What are you currently working on?
B: My recent works have been a lot about materiality. I have made different kinds of "lollipops" that I dip on layers on layers in a fat glaze to investigate where the limit is for glaze thickness. The so-called "Metamorphosis" should also demonstrate the transformation process that occurs during the firing to the high temperatures, where the glazes mix and flow together - or sometimes slip completely. I enjoy engaging in expressive ceramic experiments that test the boundaries of material and form.
A: Your work is gorgeous and personally reminds me of dreaming. I’m curious if there’s ever a narrative or story that goes along with it.
B: My ceramic clouds contain pictures from my childhood. My parents had a summer house overlooking the sea, and when a storm approached we could follow it coming closer and closer. I remember we would hurry home from the beach before the first drops hit the house.
A: I like a little ugly mixed with my beauty. Do you relate to this?
B: I often take my point of departure in nature’s own principles and regularities of form, but the results can be strange sculptural growths, and large wild and amorphous nature abstractions that may be both lush and melancholic with an expression of beauty in both growth and decay.
A: Morning dress routine?
B: Most days I put on my working clothes.
A: What's your alternate, fantasy occupation that has nothing to do with what you currently do?
B: Bioscience
A: Favorite object on your desk?
B: A packet of soft clay.
Follow Bente on instagram here.