2013/14
Stoneware and multiple glazes
15 x 20 cm

Morten Løbner Espersen (below, left) creates vessels, he says “The vessel is my object of choice. An archetypical form I’ve spent 20 years making variations on, from the functional and modest, to the aesthetic and sumptuous.” The vessel form is perfectly circular with an entirely flat base and perpendicular walls, the silhouette is simple, clean, and for some reason, very Danish. The artist refers to these as ‘Vacui’, Latin for ‘of the vacuum’, referencing the characteristic empty space inside. Thickly glazed in three or four or more layers, the surface becomes an exaggeration of form. Espersen distorts these works further in a complementary series entitled ‘Horror Vacui’, or ‘fear of emptiness’. A reference to classical ceramics, a more typical vase form is set amongst writhing tendrils, that empty space no longer accessible or fillable.  

Photo by Ole Akhøj