THE MOON JAR
The Moon Jar is an unusual shape for the Danish master Hans Vangsø, known for his faceted cylinders. Here the renowned artist, at the request of Lucy Lacoste, brings together the lines of the simple yet elegant Moon Jar with his own unorthodox methods of creating texture, line and color developed over his 50 year career. Vangsø’s glazes are rich and thick and involve multiple firings, incorporating materials such as seaweed and pieces of metal wrapped against the piece. These layers build upon each other during the alchemy of the firing. Like the Japanese painting of the ensō, the variations of the physical forces involved reveal the artist's gestures, emotions, and state of mind in his exploration of this rounded form.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Born 1950; Lives and works in Knebel, near Aarhus, Denmark
Hans Vangsø works within a Scandinavian tradition of bold simplicity. He studied at Jutland Academy of Fine Arts in Denmark and was taught by the noted Gutte Eriksen, one of the great originators of Danish studio ceramics, and his mentor. Through her, Vangsø also became inspired by the Japanese ceramic tradition, the root and soul of ceramics. The combination of great simplicity in form and rich texture in glazes, and above all, the total melting of glaze and body render his work unique. The very much alive surfaces of the glaze are obtained in the firing methods developed over years and years, as each piece is fired several times in a gas kiln with salt, seaweed, and metals.