Nathalie Frédérique Lautenbacher

Ceramicist

©Nathalie Lautenbacher

Annabelle Antas

Let the clay guide me

Nathalie finds inspiration everywhere in Helsinki
She is a lecturer in ceramics
She believes in an intuitive process in which the material leads the way

When asked if her craft is in danger of dying out, Nathalie Frédérique Lautenbacher has a quick answer: “Ceramics have been produced for more than 10,000 years. It still keeps intriguing and fascinating people!” After considering a career in graphic design and then fine arts, she shelved both ideas in favour of ceramics where the intensity of working with bare hands appealed to her. That attraction led to a MA degree from the University of Art and Design in Helsinki where she’s now a lecturer in ceramics. Finding inspiration from “everywhere” she names slip casting, plaster model, mould making and hand coiling as her most favoured and special skills.

Interview

©Naoto Niidome

How do you express tradition and innovation in your work?: Ceramic art reflects the preferences and the inner world of the artist. Clay is a shapeless material and it needs to be “forced” – or rather, persuaded – into form. Therefore, the process is personal and intuitive, mirroring its maker. And since people are much alike, ceramic works have many similarities no matter where they are made, containing elements from the past and present.
What does “well made” mean to you?: I let the clay lead the design. The process is very intuitive. It always contains a small risky element. “Well made” means a risk has worked, and the result appears to have been born naturally and easily. Like a quick sketch on paper.
Do you remember the moment when you first thought of picking up this craft?: I did ceramics classes at school. Once we got instructed to make a copy of a Mexican pot by hand coiling. It was fun to see how many different interpretations came out, not one similar! It took all my attention for weeks – and it cracked in the firing.
What was the first object you made?: During my university studies, I did an apprenticeship at Arabia ceramics factory, next to our school. But the first product that I designed was for the ceramics and glass industry in Finland, the product was a vase Natal for the Iittala brand.

Nathalie Frédérique Lautenbacher is a master artisan: she began her career in 1999 and she started teaching in 1999