Manufactory
Gundula Sommerer
About the object: This blue-green, square vase made of clay is handmade by Gundula Sommerer using the slab technique. The simple shape of the tall vase is broken up by a triangular vase opening on the top of the object. The vase is watertight, approx. 20 cm high and approx. 11 cm x 9 cm wide. The extremely interesting and unique surface of this unique piece is created by applying two different engobes plus a transparent glaze and subsequent raku firing. This vase is unique in its appearance and feel; the raku process makes the end result largely unpredictable. Gundula Sommerer produces this vase in small series.
Production process: This ceramic vase made of clay is handmade using the slab technique. It is coated with two different engobes, which are low-viscosity clay mineral masses used for coloring or coating ceramic products, and then covered with a transparent glaze. The first firing takes place in an electric kiln at 920°C, the second firing is a raku firing in a gas kiln at 1020°C. After cooling down to 800°C, the vase is reduced in a vessel with sawdust while still glowing. This process step creates the beautiful cracks and discolorations in the surfaces. After firing, the pieces are cleaned and made watertight using a special process so that they can be used as a vase.
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Gundula Sommerer has a special talent for finding formal languages for emotional states and inner worlds. In her art, she reflects on her own phases of life, resulting in a repertoire that is as diverse as life itself.
The objects obtain their coal-black coloring and fine cracked structures through the raku firing technique. In this process, the workpieces are removed from the kiln red-hot and then placed in sawdust, where they are blackened by the carbon released during the burning process. The resulting surfaces develop a unique, expressive aesthetic. The raku firing technique has its origins in Japan, where it originated in the 16th century in connection with the tea ceremony.
Gundula Sommerer was born in Stade in 1950. She trained as an art teacher from 1969 to 1975 and then studied ceramics and sculpture at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Bremen from 1975 to 1977. She then set up her own business as a ceramicist in Visselhövede. Study trips and her work took her to the USA and to France for several years before she returned to Germany in 2004. In 2011, she completed her training by qualifying as an art therapist. Gundula Sommerer is a member of the Berufsverband Angewandte Kunst Schleswig-Holstein and the FFKK (Flensborg Fjords Kunst & Kulturforeningen). From 2016 to 2020 she was a member of Danske Kunsthandvaerkere & Designere. Since 2017 she has been running the gallery TonArt in Flensburg together with Ueze Oldenburg. Her works are regularly represented in exhibitions at home and abroad, including in France, Denmark and Austria.
