DESIGN Claydies
Primadonna – ceramic haute couture
With Primadonna, Kähler cements its century-long tradition for art ceramics. Behind the new objects stand the ceramicists and Karen Kjældgård-Larsen, or Claydies, who have created some of the most acclaimed designs on the contemporary Danish ceramics scene.
The ’Hairstyle bowls’ concept has absorbed Claydies for a number of years and originates in a desire to rank the ceramics craft along with the art of tailoring. ”The Hairstyle bowls are a showdown with quiet and harmless ceramics. We want to turn things upside down and contribute to a new perception of what ceramics are and can do.”
Claydies consist of Tine Broksø (1971) and Karen Kjældgård-Larsen (1974), who are both trained ceramic artists from the Danish Design School. Furthermore, Karen Kjældgård-Larsen is the designer of Royal Copenhagen’s Mussel Mega.
In just a few years, Claydies have made a name for themselves among the new and experimenting generation of young Danish ceramic artists. Claydies work conceptually with ceramics and apply a set of dogma rules, which break with the “quiet and harmless” ceramics. They introduce new techniques, eg. by sewing a coffee pot in clay and modeling blindfolded. Their popular little pieces of green edges of ditch are sold by MoMa and in Japan.
The duo has received a long list of grants for their innovative approach to their craft, including grants from the Danish Arts Foundation, Danish Crafts, the Development Foundation of the Danish Ministry of Cultural Affairs and the New Carlsberg Foundation.