Fernando Casasempere has worked with porcelain and stoneware for four decades, introducing rich textures into his surfaces. His poetic, abstract forms are partly inspired by pre-Columbian art and partly by the landscape of his native Chile. Casasempere has been based in London since the late 1990s, still working with material brought from Chile, exploring ideas of landscape with a deep concern for the environment.
Robert Preece: What have you learned over the years about working with porcelain and stoneware? And what keeps you coming back to these materials?
Fernando Casasempere: Working with different materials over the course of my career has afforded me the expertise and freedom needed to develop the forms I was looking for. To me, this can be compared to how you must master classical ballet before being able to execute the moves demanded by contemporary dance. The range of colors, textures, and forms is infinite, and this is what keeps me going back to working with porcelain and stoneware. I want to achieve the impossible, to expand the medium’s possibilities and explore languages not yet spoken . . .
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