CERAMICS AND RAW NATURE
Mona Næss is a collector and a recycler of natural materials and organic resources. She uses it as a starting point for ceramic objects and installations, and includes it in her art. For example squid ink is often included in the glaze, and ash from local trees on Nesodden is burned into the ceramic leaving its traces in the textures. Through ancient firing techniques she explores the effect of nature on the ceramics and allows them to fuse with the trace of her handcraft. The expression is raw. Nature is present in her expressions.
STORIES FROM THE SEA AND FROM THE FOREST
In Monas ceramics is a longing for the sea, for white foaming waves on the blue ocean. Stories of corals and large shells, from the ocean depths, and driftwood that has travelled far on the waves before they are washed up on land.
There are also stories from the forest. Not about the young and green trees, but from the ground of the really old forests. Tree trunks in decay, about to give their power back to the earth. Polypores that have grown large and crackled in beautiful patterns. The raw and often overseen beauty found in the other parts of natures cyclus than the flowering.
ABOUT MONA
Mona is a ceramist with a Master's degree in ceramic art from the Oslo Academy of Arts and a Bachelor's degree in graphic design from London College of Printing. Mona lives and works at Hellvik (Nesodden). I was first acquainted with Mona when we both participated at a Christmas fare at Studio Ask in 2017. Since then we have kept in contact. Lately I have had the pleasure of working more closely with Mona on our joint project "Slow Nesting", and through this project we have come to realize that we not only share much of the same passion for raw nature, but have also found many common values and visions. Slow Nesting became a very pleasant joint project, and we will continue it even though the fair is over.
You can follow Mona on her website and on instagram.