Ane-Katrine von Bülow was born 1952 and graduated from the Design School in Denmark in 1980.
In 2004 she was awarded the Westerwald Price for her paper-thin porcelain bowls ornamented in black and white. The bowls are double cast in porcelain. The graphic pattern is visualized and adapted using advanced computer techniques, and then manually transferred to the bowls.
It takes a week to produce one of the large bowls, where silk-screen print is used as a technique for an artistic expression of ornamentation. When the pattern has been transferred to the bowls with serigraphic under glaze, they are covered in matt, transparent glaze and fired in a gas kiln at 1300°C for twelve hours.
“Only a gas kiln can create the cool colours I want”, says von Bülow. “On the whole I enjoy working with the unpredictability of a gas kiln. It lends a certain materiality as well as a touch of chance. It’s never just a routine. Actually, I hold my breath every time I open the kiln to see the final product. There are a lot of variables, and the process doesn’t always succeed”.
Von Bülow wants the ornamentation to be functional: “The aim is for the graphic decoration to blend with the bowl’s form and function.”
The keywords here are stringent design, a fluid geometric pattern and a simple black and white colour scheme. But contrast is essential: it takes the organic shapes and colours of fruit and vegetables to complete the composition.