Working with ceramics in an artisanal way, she develops her own glazes, with each series emerging from extensive research and a desire to experiment with specific materials — whether metallic oxides, chemical components, or other elements. Often, it is the material itself that dictates the final form.
Her pieces occupy a space between function and art: nearly all of them retain some form of utility, however subtle, questioning both the domestic role of art and the long utilitarian tradition of ceramics.
Eleonore Joulin, exclusively for FOXYLAB.
I’m based in Brussels, Belgium, I went to to art school in Strasbourg in France.
One day I registered for a ceramic class and since then I’ve started to make objects.
All of it ! I look at everyday objects that surrounds me and try to copy it as lamp or vase. I do food and garments for now, but I have other ideas coming up, I’m trying to do fake wood for example.
It always start with a simple idea, I don’t try hard, first thought is usually the one.
My only constraint is that I have a small kiln and I only run it when it’s full.
Sometimes I need to do 3D modeling before, to make a blueprint.
Sometimes it is the chemicals that drives the research. For example I might want to explore the possibilities of red iron oxide and sometimes I just want to recreate a texture or a color. I combine a lot of chemicals to do so.
Some research takes months like the raw sausage, some is one shot, like the leek.
The cabbage ! It was very hard to cast, print and glaze.
If I don’t do cabbage for a while, I kind of lose the technic and have to go through my research again.
Ceramic can be damaging for health and the environment, confronting these aspects of the art is very important. Adjusting the process often is necessary.
A lot of artists, none in particular!
Could be fashion, literature, music, food, politics—or something stranger.
I mostly find inspiration outside of the visual art world actually. In architecture food, fashion, and quirky objects found in thrift and historical museums.
