Artist Detail

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Swanica Ligtenberg

Visual Artist

About the artist: Swanica finds the connection with mother nature/earth and helps her in her creation through ceramic art. She is attracted by the warmth of the earthenware red clay and she uses white clay for pit fire flame effects and for red-yellow glaze crackle results. She expresses herself in round clay forms thrown on a wheel. Cutting and/or folding transform many pieces. Her designs are line/curve engraved in clay, in slips, template sprayed, brush-or hand-painted, or glaze decorations. They are abstract forms. These can be squares, lines or curves, complex or simple, but are always finding a balance in her ceramic piece. The glazes are transparent, glossy white, red or yellowish. She finds innovative ways for her wall art, thrown on a wheel or slab work, combining it with other natural materials, making it one harmonic artwork.

Clays is a material you can shape easily. You can give it any form you like. THrowing the clay on a wheel gives a round shape, centers and is the cycle of life. Her pieces are mainly plates, bowls, and vases.

- She works with the earthenware red/brown low fire clay. It gives limitless possibilities in decoration with slips, engraving and use of colors.
After throwing and trimming the forms, she transforms them through cutting and/or folding, pasting, all the time trying to keep the shape interesting and in harmony with itself. Then she sprays slips (liquid clay paint) on the shapes. Swanica uses every color, and yellow is one of her favorites. She creates her designs by using templates or by engraving decorations in the piece after spraying color slips on it to have the red/brown color of the clay reappear or a combination of both. She also engraves without spraying slips and a white glossy glaze will enhance the decoration and give it a deeper dimension. Her designs are a play with lines and curves. It enhances the form and lifts it up.
The red glaze she uses gives on the red clay a very deep color and after some firings almost starts crystallizing. In the glaze is some lead. It is within the norm, but by law, we have to notify the customers. So, it is advised not to use the pieces for wet foods or liquids.

- She uses a white high fire clay for pit fire work and for the use of red and yellow glazes. For pit fires the clay is coarser and fired low fire. After throwing and forming, and putting on a slip, it is fired in an electric kiln. Then it is fired again in a pit with sawdust, salt and copper carbonate, cow dung patties and wood on top and the play of the fire shows the results on the pieces.
She decorates the white clay with glazes: mainly red and yellow (a yellow colorant sprayed on a clear glaze) and enhances the crazing in the glaze, developed by the tension between the glaze and the clay, after firing.

- Ways to display her art in a 2-D manner is by hanging plates on the wall, by framing and boxing cut and/or folded plates and cups, or by putting slabwork designs on wood. She attaches the form or pieces on a background of fabric, wires, and other natural materials. She transforms slab work on wood as a wall display.
The pieces are fired in an electric kiln. Functional ware can be put in the dishwasher, but is not microwave or oven safe. Only the red glaze contains some lead. It is within food safety limits, but by law we have to notify you that you can not use it for wet foods and liquids.

A couple of years ago, I did pit firings and with the prospect on going to and staying in Japan for a while, I want to continue this exploration of alternative kiln and firing techniques; especially Raku, Naked Raku, Pit, Barrel and Saggar firings. Every firing has its special and unique ways and techniques and requires understanding and play to discover your own style and way; like using feathers, horsehair, or sugar burning into a red hot pot and getting the most beautiful colors. Almost all the clay work done in this way is porous, thus not waterproof.

Enjoy the results of my explorations in firing techniques and display, and use right away her plates, bowls, vases, double vases!, spheres!, wall-artwork, and other creations.