Mona Næss

Biography

I am a Norwegian based ceramic artist specialising in decorative vessels and large ceramic wall installations. I work with both coarse crank and smooth porcelain, and my use of glazes are limited to a soft natural palette with the occasional use of pure local Antiparos squid-ink. The creative process is based on inspiration from nature, and I often collect and recycle what nature has discarded or what has been in contact with earth over time.
I am concerned about our interference with nature, and I often use natural materials together with my ceramics – weathered driftwood, shells and stones.
The aesthics of nature is superior and I try to arrange an earth-dialogue, to present and twist the obvious.
All my ceramic objects are hand made with simple tools, and I often leave the marks from the tools visible as a reminder of the creative process.
After many years as a professional designer in the advertising industry, I decided to change diretion and graduated in 2008 with a Master Degree in Ceramic Art from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts.

I hope my work will be a gentle reminder of nature, in both tactility and form.

www.monanaess.com