The Repulsive Flower -A material based research about art history, gender and decorative

Caroline Harrius Konstfack Craft! Ceramics Master 2 Spring 2020 Tutors: Matt Smith, Andrea Peach and Birgitta Burling Word count: 6301

Abstract In this project I am investigating my relationship with western traditional porcelain produced between 1700 and 1900 from a gender perspective. While looking at what has been feminine coded within the late history of ceramics I made the horrible realization that I do not value this kind of ceramics. The 21th century Scandinavia with stripped down, clean surfaces, filled with cool people dressed in black leaves little room for romantic, billowy vases decorated with flowers.

I have produced a series of 30 porcelain vases, all decorated in the same way with a botanical pattern. They are installed in an old wooden shelf, packed tightly together. With this installation I want to discuss what part art history has made it to the museums and what parts has been stored away and labelled as tasteless knick knack. How has gender affected this? For some reason all my artistic role models has been male painters and not female ceramicists.

Keywords: Ceramics, History, Hierarchies, Gender, Differences, Decoration, Women, Taste, Production, Knick-knack, Domestic space

Index Introduction ...... 1 Background and previous works ...... 3 Theory, context, method and discussion ...... 8 Women working with ceramics and art ...... 10 Domestic decoration ...... 13 Process ...... 16 Conclusion ...... 19 Bibliography ...... 22 Additional sources ...... 23 Image references ...... 24 Not quite an appendix ...... 26

Introduction I am trying to accept the fact that I don’t look up to any historical female ceramists. Trust me, I have worked hard on trying to like their work, and I worked even harder on finding them. When I started this project I knew that I wanted to discuss gender differences in ceramics history, I thought I was going to do so by critically discussing the way women have been portrayed throughout art history. I felt that the only women we met in the art museums were the nude females painted by men. The Guerrillas Girls’ quote from 1989 “Do women have to be naked to get in to the met museum? Less than 5% of the artist in the Modern Art Section are women but 85% of the nudes are female1” brings this issue up and has constantly been in my mind through these two years. But I was only looking at figurative portraits. It took me a while to understand that by looking at ceramics produced by women, instead of paintings made by men, I could get a deeper understanding of the hierarchies within the ceramics history and also draw more meaningful parallels with my studio practice as a ceramics artist.

As a start I began to investigate what terms have strongly been associated with women’s way of working with ceramics in Europe in the 18th and 19th century. When reading, I tried to circle what parts of ceramics has been mostly associated with women, both technically and visually. My idea was that these terms I found would be the fundament of my artistic work. So what terms are considered feminine in the artistic practice of ceramics? In all the texts I have studied, there is one part that always is mentioned, and that is decoration of domestic ceramic vessels, often done in a non creative2 way, where women worked from men’s designs.

I got a very unpleasant surprise when I did my first vase working from these terms; I do not think that this kind of ceramics is cool and I want to hide my work from others to see. I have never before felt embarrassed over my work and only want it to be visible when I can explain that there is a reason why I have made this very unsexy, decorative vase with cute pink flowers.

As a young female ceramist who wants to work with feminism, it very frustrating to find out that I don’t like and value porcelain associated with female traditions. In this project I will force myself to dig deeper in to the ceramics as I in the beginning of this text think is uncool, and try to find out why I think so, I think it is sad and problematic that I know so much about male painters, but can barely name any female ceramicist born before 1900. Can I find the underlying reasons to why I don’t value the traditionally female coded decorative porcelain? In this text I will look at the social and economical structures of the 18th century and forward and see if I can find the explanation there why only men have been doing what I consider great art. I will go through some of my earlier projects and see how they relate to this issue. From there I will continue to look at women’s roll in the ceramics production

1 https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/guerrilla-girls-do-women-have-to-be-naked-to-get-into-the- met-museum-p78793 2 Vincentelli, Women and Ceramics Gendered Vessels, 88, 90, 96. 1

during the 18th and 19th century and see what possibilities they have had to become ceramics artists. Since I seem to have such issues with colourful flower patterns, I will also see if I can find any connections with gender and value in decoration.

I will produce series of porcelain vases that will be decorated in a colourful botanic pattern and exhibited at Konstfack’s Spring Show, hopefully. My aim is that through my artistic work question the hierarchies and challenge the norms within the art field that says that modernist sculptures and paintings of nude women are great art, but decorative and functional mass produced ware is knick-knack and should stay out of museums and galleries.

Image 1. Caroline Harrius, The Repulsive Flower, 2020

My main source is Moira Vincentelli (c 1940-), she is an art historian, curator of ceramics and also the author of the book Women and Ceramics- Gendered Vessels. She is the only one I found so far who has written a book about the gender differences in ceramics history. I am under the impression that there seems to be a lack of material on this subject; when I have been searching through feminist art theory, ceramics is not mentioned very often. Therefore my other sources are a mix between ceramics history books and feminist theory that speaks about taste, textile and female traditions, which I will apply on my work. This includes texts as Zandra Ahl’s (1975-), previous professor of Konstfack’s ceramics department, and journalist Emma Olsson’s (1973-) book Svensk Smak- myter om den moderna formen (Swedish Taste- Myths about the modern form) and Linda Nochlin’s (1931-2017) essay Why have there been no great women artists?

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Background and previous works My grandmother was a stay home wife in a privileged household; her greatest hobby was going to auctions and brining home fantastic pieces of ceramics which she decorated the house with. She spent her whole life collecting porcelain and was probably the only one who smiled when I explained to my family that I was going to be a ceramicist. I never realised that eating strawberry kissel from her bowls printed with the Willow Pattern3 when I was 5 years old would affect my artistic style in the future, but my grandmother is probably to blame for my huge interest in traditional blue and white porcelain. I always used to sigh when I entered her house and I saw that my latest piece of work was just a modern twist of an 18th century vase in one of her vitrines.

Working from traditional porcelain is nothing new to me- I did my bachelor degree in ceramics, my exam work was a huge blue and white figurine, a less charming self portrait where I wanted to talk about what sides of our lives are socially accepted to put on display and show in a world where we are expected to share our lives from the most perfect angle on social media. Instead of perfect porcelain skin and a clean home, my portrait is sitting on the dirty floor with greasy hair taking a selfie. I thought that using the figurine, commonly known as a conversation piece, would be an interesting way address the questions I wanted to discuss.

Image 2 and 3. Longing for Rejection, exam work for my bachelor 2018

3 https://nationalmuseumpublications.co.za/the-willow-pattern/ 3

I continued to work on this track during my first semester at Konstfack- I was focusing on finding a method where I could work with ceramics and include women in a new context or way where they are not only a subject to the male gaze, but independent characters with their own story. My work was a series of porcelain plates which is a homage to my fellow female crafters, the idea not very different from Judy Chicago’s (1939-) less figurative work The Dinner Party4 from 1996. I painted the portraits of these women on different plates with cobalt. I was once again inspired by the porcelain history; back in the 18th century porcelain was considered very valuable and beautiful, it was not uncommon to cover the walls from floor to ceiling with the plates5. It was one of those things in your home that you gladly bragged about. I wanted to show and brag about my important female peers in the same way. The women on my plates were shown in typical power positions that we normally only see men in and with authority in their eyes.

Image 4. Caroline Harrius, Homage to my Fellow Female Crafters, 2019

4 https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/dinner_party 5 Dahlbäck Lutteman, Svenskt Porslin Fajans, Porslin och Flintgods 1700-1900, 61. 4

These and more of my earlier works has a lot in common; they have their starting point in traditional porcelain, often figurative, but I have always added contemporary elements to make it feel “cooler”. My figurines are wearing edgy panties with leopard prints, holdings a cigarette in one hand and their iPhone in the other without giving a fuck about what you think about them.

When I am swapping romantic flower patterns and a perfect clean, smooth surfaces Image 5. Caroline Harrius, Leopard Girl, 2019 for cigarettes and a rough, naive finish I am unconsciously distancing myself from feminine traditions. What is it that is so scary with pink flowers that I feel the need to have a shield of cool things that protects me from them?

My other shield has been the blue and white; I love when things are “too much”, I can spend hour after hour painting mismatching patterns. It sometimes looks like someone ate a rainbow and a whole garden and threw it all up in my living room. But there is a big difference between my home and my ceramics; I never let anyone in to my home, it is my secret place that I rarely expose to anyone, my ceramics on the other hand is for the whole world to see. Even though I sneak in some crazy patterns on my flower pots, the cobalt keeps it all together. It’s clean enough to make a visually pleasing feed on my Instagram while the crooked hand painted lines makes it feel unique and personal.

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The blue and white Chinese inspired porcelain is also one of the traditions which is still very highly valued today and trendy, I see many young and upcoming ceramists work with this, such as Lin Wang (1985-, based in Bergen, Norway), Sofi Gunnstedt (1989-, based in Stockholm, Sweden), and Marianne Hallberg (1952-, based in Gothenburg). It’s hard not to fall in love with the bleeding cobalt lines on the white shiny porcelain, but at the same time the objects demonstrates that the maker or owner has an awareness of cultural history. I love this expression; the nostalgia makes the items comforting. But for now, I feel that I have to leave the blue and white behind for a while to really investigate and question my choices, and not take the safe and for me, easy and comfortable way.

Image 6. Caroline Harrius, Vase, 2020

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Image 7. Lin Wang, The Harbour Romance, c 2016.

Image 8. Sofi Gunnstedt, :), 2018 Image 9. Marianne Hallberg, Handduk

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Theory, context, method and discussion I thought I was going to work critically towards history, and in some naive way I did not think that I was a part of the problem I want to discuss. When someone asks me about my work, I confidently say that I often work traditional porcelain, which I try to put in a new context where I can relate it to questions I’m working with, and let these two separate topics strengthen each other. But when I say that I work with traditional porcelain, what do I actually refer to? I have unconsciously neglected a huge part of the field, I’ve chosen the few things that suit my taste and the rest is forgotten, by doing this, I am also affecting what part of history is worth remembering. I more than anyone is apparently taught to value traditional porcelain from the historical hierarchies. I never know what to answer when someone asks me who my favourite ceramics artist is, I wish I could drop the name a historical female ceramicist, but I don’t know anyone. When I started working from what I have found seems to be typically female coded in ceramics, I suddenly started to feel ashamed of my work. I did not want anyone to see my sketches and try outs without me being present, so that I could explain that there actually was this great conceptual idea behind it and this was not my real artistic style. It was hard to settle on doing this project- my installation is a series of 30 “identical” porcelain vases I have produced and decorate with a hand painted flower pattern. Thoughts as “Is decorating vases all I am going to do? Sound uninteresting and boring” kept spinning in my head. When I see neat porcelain object decorated with flowers the thought “oh, what an interesting piece of contemporary conceptual art” is not the first thing that crosses my mind. Why don’t I value this kind of work? I’m sure that I would probably think it would be an amazing idea if the work was unique sculptures or figurative and not only a mass produced functional vase.

My way of expressing myself is usually pretty straight forward, both with words and with my art. When I work figuratively and add text, I can sometime be too much; I don’t want to write people on the nose with a message. The idea for my artistic work is to bring up the questions and connections of gender and taste hierarchy within the ceramics history, but in a more subtle way. I will remove all the things I usually put in to make sure the works will be cool and likable, no extra elements are needed this time, the vases are good enough in themselves. They will presented tightly packed in an old wooden storage shelf, cover in dust to create a feeling that they are stored away and forgotten, maybe forgotten on purpose. My aim is that the installation will evoke question about hierarchies in gender, taste and art.

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Image 10. Caroline Harrius, The Repulsive Flower, 2020.

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Women working with ceramics and art To get a better understanding of how gender representation in Swedish museums looks like I went to the Swedish National Museums webpage6 to search through their collection. I made a search with the word porslin (Swedish translation of porcelain) from 1700 to 1900 and pictures, I got 1946 hits that I went through and only found one single named woman, Marie- Anne Gerard. It is worth to mention that a lot of the hits where unnamed German artist or simply Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, Sèvres, Frankrike. Even though a lot of names seem to be lost in history, I would not have any problems with writing a long list of all the male ceramists listed in the Swedish National Museums archive.

If women didn’t end up in museums, with an exception for all the lovely nude paintings of young and shy, passive but still sexual women painted by men, were where they? Have there only been a handful of women through western history with the dream of working full time creatively with colour, form and craft? The answer is; probably not. Linda Nochlin speaks about the resistance women who actually had the possibility to get an art education had to face within the institution in her essay Why have there been no great women artists? Nude drawing was seen essential in the artistic education and the fundament for creating masterpieces. Nochlin claims that “indeed, it was argued by defenders of traditional painting in the 19th century that there could be no great painting with clothed figures.”7 Unfortunately, women were forbidden to take part in the study of the nude model, which made it impossible for them to produce the highest valued art at that time. Instead, they got to paint still life and botanic drawings, also known as less great art. It’s easy to draw visual parallels between the realistic oil paintings of tulips to what later became associated with women, such as embroidery, which is sometimes referred to as “to flower”8 and china painting.

This issue might sound ancient, but it was not until the early 20th century that the first women in London got the chance to attend these drawing sessions. Nochlin comes to the conclusion in her essay “that it was indeed institutionally made impossible for women to achieve artistic excellence, or success, on the same footing as men, no matter what the potency of their so-called talent, or genius.”9 The history in Sweden is very similar to the one described by Nochlin; when the Royal Institute of Art “Mejan” finally opened their Women Department in 1864, they were the first in the world to do so.10 Before that, the only female students they had attended Mejan were a few “extra students” who had to face the same resistance in their education as the earlier mentioned.

This issue is well known and many people have spoken about it before, Judy Chicago has for example dedicated a whole autobiography describing the struggles she faced as a young female artist in the beginning of her career as late as in 1960s and 70s.11 But is it possible to

6http://collection.nationalmuseum.se/eMP/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&module=collectio n&moduleFunction=search#container 7 Nochlin, Women, Art, And Power and Other Essays, 159. 8 Vincentelli, Women and Ceramics Gendered Vessels, 83. 9 Nochlin, Women, Art, And Power and Other Essays, 176. 10 https://old.kkh.se/varutstallningen2005/2005/mejan_history.htm 11 Chicago, Through the Flower: My Struggle as a Woman Artist. 10

tie it to the history of ceramics? I have come across a lot of texts about textile and women history, such as Rozsika Parker’s (1945-2010) The Creation of Femininity12, but there seems to be a lack of text discussing the gender differences in ceramics. Ahl and Olsson mentions how ones gender affected the students at Bauhaus; some teachers claimed women form skill was deficient, and they only should work with the surface of objects13. Edmund de Waal (1964-) also brings up the gender differences in the Bauhaus school briefly in his book 20th Century Ceramics, women were discouraged from learning to throw, and rather encourage becoming decorators,14 a much cleaner job where they could keep their high heels on and work in another room than the men.

I was lucky to meet the ceramicist Rita Floyd (c 1955-) during Stockholm Craft Week 2019, she has been working in the factories in Stoke- on-Trent from a young age, even though she is born in the 20th century, I think her story is valuable in understanding women’s relationship with ceramics. The same time as she was doing a performance where she made small porcelain flowers that she later threw in a great pile, she told me the story of how she had been working professionally with ceramics from an early age. The first thing she was taught was how to make approximately 50 different porcelain flowers which she then got to produce. Since this was a pretty clean work, she was later able to do it from home when she had children to look after during the day. By the end of the day she delivered the flowers back to the factory and was paid per flower.15 Floyd’s situation is special, if the male ceramist Neil Brownsword (1970-) had not started to collaborate with her, she would probably had joined the long Image 11. Rita Floyd and Neil Brownsword, Factory, list of forgotten female makers, and 2017. not have joined artists in galleries.

I was so amazed how easy it was for her to make all the porcelain flowers, but I also began to think about all women who has been painting or sculpting the same flowers every day for years and years, I’m sure Floyd made at least 90 flowers the day I met her. Rita Floyd is probably one of the most skilled ceramicists I have met, yet she and other workers are only

12 Adamson, The Craft Reader, 491-500. 13 Ahl & Olsson, Svensk smak- myter om den moderna formen, 31. 14 De Waal, 20th Century Ceramics, 86. 15 Conversation 6th of October 2019. 11

producers and not artists. This is a good description of the historical ceramics production in Europe and women’s role in the process.

In Moira Vincentelli’s text The Decorative Woman she describes the female factory workers; they were often unskilled labourers16 and nothing more than just their names are recorded.17 They spent most of their time copying others designs and their “low paid employment offering little opportunity for developing artistic skills, and carrying little prestige”18 It’s not weird that I, born in 1990s, taught to idolize independent women such as the Spice Girls who goes their own way, hasn’t grown up with anonymous factory workers as my role models. The male painters that I learned to love during my early art education; Caravaggio (1571-1610), Rembrandt (1606-1669), Munch (1863-1944), Picasso (1881-1973), were not only men, but great artistic male geniuses. I have been taught everything I ever would need to know about these men, and they all seemed to have lived exciting lives that didn’t fit into the norm of that time and could fascinate anyone. There was nothing special about factory workers; they were normal people who were not worth remembering.

Image 12. Caroline Harrius, The Repulsive Flower, 2020.

16 Vincentelli, Women and Ceramics Gendered Vessels, 85. 17 Vincentelli, Women and Ceramics Gendered Vessels, 83 18 Vincentelli, Women and Ceramics Gendered Vessels, 89

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Domestic decoration Every guy I have ever dated has one thing in common, their apartments has looked like shit. My ex made an effort and put up curtains- a yellow fleece blanket with Eniro’s logo on it, this did not save the dumpster he lived in. I can’t even imagine not having a colour coordinated home; the last time I moved I had to upholster my kitchen chair so the fabric would match the wallpaper- yes, I brought home 5 textile different samples to find the perfect shade of green. Just as my grandmother and many mothers before her I share the obsession of decorating the home after the current norm. The domestic space has been women’s place to rule and express their creativity; it’s not weird that activates performed in an domestic environment is associated with women, such as knitting, crouching and deciding on what is best suited for tonight’s dinner.

The decorative porcelain had a natural place in the time area from 1700 to 1900. A beautiful Victorian home showed that the woman of the house did not have to work and could spend time decorating the home and perform activities such embroidery instead19. The man would generate income to the family while women were simply being used as a status symbol; a lady shouldn’t work. Ironically, these middleclass women who were not supposed to have a profession were the ones that could afford an art education. They had to keep it on an amateur level and work from home20, while the lower class women who were less skilled worked at the porcelain manufactures.

Around 1900 the history changes; a lot more women had the chance to become studio potters and started to design their own work21, but at the same time they began to distance them self from decorative which was associated with female taste.22 The same trend can also been seen in the textile field; Rozsika Parker writes “in the nine-teenth century, women wanting to be taken seriously in the supposedly ‘male’ spheres deliberately declared their rejection of embroidery to distance themselves from the feminine ideal.”23 This is also the time period when a lot of influential female ceramicist are born, such as Lucie Rie (1902-1995) and Signe Person Melin (1925-) whose clean and minimalistic style is far from the romantic decorative wares that their female predecessor made. It is also these artists that many of my peers today seem to have as their role models and inspiration.

19 Adamson, The Craft Reader, 497. 20 Vincentelli, Women and Ceramics Gendered Vessels, 89 21 Vincentelli, Women and Ceramics Gendered Vessels, 98. 22 Vincentelli, Women and Ceramics Gendered Vessels, 100. 23 Adamson, The Craft Reader, 495. 13

Image 13. Lucie Rie, Bowl, c 1975. Image 14. Signe Persson Melin, Kinesen, 1986.

The standard changed and the beauty of the home was no longer essential, rather the function, Le Corbusier (1887-1965) made the statement that a house should only be “a shelter against heat, cold, rain, thieves and the inquisitive”24. The 20th century’s modernistic and functional norms leave little room for the decorative feminine traditions; decoration is something that is just an addition to real objects real purpose25, and does not fit very well with Le Corbusier’s ideas. The Swedish writer Ellen Key (1849-1926) thought that all decorative objects should be thrown away and be replaced with simple furniture that suited everyone’s taste, and this idea still lives one today.26 I am born and raised in Sweden and during my whole life I’ve seen pictures of our grey sophisticated Scandinavian styled homes and been taught that this stripped down style is the ultimate goal when you decorate a home. It almost feels like over decorated Victorian homes are something we want Image 15. The Spruce, ‘What is Scandinavian to forget about on purpose. Design.’

24 Sparke, As Long as It’s Pink The Sexual Politics of Taste, 69. 25 Vincentelli, Women and Ceramics Gendered Vessels, 78. 26 Ahl & Olsson, Svensk smak- myter om den moderna formen, 26. 14

When my interest for porcelain first started, I joined a Facebook group for Swedish porcelain27; most people just want to know if they can sell the urn they inherited when their aunt died expensive or not, how do we do so? We turn the vessel upside down. All the value of the objects is in the stamp on the bottom where we learn if it was from the right fancy factory or not. To most people this function and aesthetics of the objects seems to be completely worthless, as well as the making behind it. I don’t see these kinds of vases displayed museums or galleries as art pieces very often either, but in a glass vitrine as historical objects. As in the National Museum in Stockholm for example, the ceramics is hidden in a room, far away from the great paintings, behind the shop and café which they call “The Design Depot”.28 The objects are packed tightly together in a chronological order in one room without any nametags; only with a small text about the time area they were produced.

I have the fear that my work just will be read as nice looking vases with some nostalgic values, and not a conceptual art installation. When my vases are separated from each other, I do not know what will happen to them, if they lose their status as a piece of art. I imagine that most of them will end up in a home, such as my grandmothers’ collection, not in a gallery. One day they might be joining National Museum’s collection to give a glimpse of the 20’s ceramics, or collecting dust in attics.

Image 16. National Museum, The Design Depot, 2019.

27 https://www.facebook.com/groups/670090599773080/ 28 https://www.nationalmuseum.se/en/besök-museet/hitta-i-museet 15

Process My project became interesting to me the day I made a vase inspired by Millicent Taplin (1902- 1980). She was an early female designer who worked for ; she started out as a decorator but was one of the few women who excelled to become a designer. I was in the middle some kind of pattern research when her pink flowers filled me with fear. At this point I knew that I wanted to work with women and decoration, and I felt that it was important to be familiar to successful women who have had the opportunity to work in a more creative and independent way and their work when I did so. At the same time I was also looking at female ceramicist Hannah Barlow (1851-1916), who was a painter at ’s art . She also made decorative functional ware, but they don’t make me react in the same way as Taplin’s work at all. Barlow works in earthy tones and portrays Image 17. Caroline Harrius, Test, 2019. silent scenes with animals calmly walking around in the high grass. Taplin’s vases are an explosion of colour and flowers with a clearer function. Even though Barlow is born earlier than Taplin, it’s a lot easier for me to imagining Barlow’s work in a gallery, her work looks more handmade like the 20th , while it looks like Taplin’s work is produced in a factory for the domestic space.

Image 18. Hannah Barlow, Vase, 1876. Image 19. Millicent Taplin, Vase, c. 1930.

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I decided to work with the vase because it’s an object you can read so many things in to- when presented in a larger quantity it speaks about production and labour. It is domestic and functional; of all objects, the curvy vase has to be one with the strongest associations with womanhood. The silhouette refers to the fertile body and the main function is decorating a home. It is also a vessel with the ability to carry stories within and tell us about history. It’s not uncommon to talk about feminism through functional ware- I have unconsciously done that through my porcelain plates in the same way as Judy Chicago, and Duncant Grant (1885- 1978) and Vanessa Bell (1879-1961) with their Famous Women Dinner Service29 has done before me. I also think it’s interesting with Rita Floyd; it’s first when her and her flowers are moved out from their original context and into the gallery that they stop being mere decoration and becoming conceptual art. They still speak about their original function, but they get a new deeper meaning.

Even though a few women had the opportunity to work creatively, I felt that it was important for me to design my own original shape and pattern for my vases. I wanted it to look like a copy of something already made, leaving the viewers a bit unsure if it’s my design or not. I liked the test where I copied Taplin, but it did really feel like my style and I found it hard to design my own pattern in her style without coping her. Instead I designed a vase with a form and decoration that is more inspired by the 1750s porcelain, and more similar to how I usually work. A curvy vase is always in some way a portrait and I see no reason why they should have the perfect smooth skin of a Barbie doll with no errors or marks of their surroundings, therefore I have not made it perfect, but left some small marks and imperfections. I have still made this vase a lot smoother than I usually work. I have done the same with the painted pattern; I have not used a stencil, they are made on free hand, which makes all the vases unique Image 20. Caroline Harrius, Test Vases, 2020. individuals, though they are still part of a group.

I fell for the temptation to use some cobalt, even though I was determent that I wouldn’t. I felt that my pink and green vase inspired by Taplin worked really great for the expression I was aiming for, but it didn’t really pop until I added the gold. I would have loved to put gold on all my 30 vases, but it did not feel doable due to time, money and deadly, toxic fumes.

29 https://www.charleston.org.uk/visit-charleston/famous-women-dinner-service/

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Instead I decided to use cobalt; it’s dark with a great depth and it gives the design a shaper look. It looks a bit undone when I only have pink and green. This was the first time that it was hard for me to use the cobalt blue; for every blue line I drew, I felt that I failed. I was afraid that ever brush stroke swept closer to my comfort zone and my whole project would fail. I had to re test the colours a few times before I felt satisfied, and for my own sake I made one of the vases blue and with so I could see the difference for myself.

All the vases are casted in the same plaster mold which I have made. I am a very skilled coiler and I would probably have saved a lot of time if I had hand built them, but the casting gives me the opportunity to produce almost identical object which refers to the history of productions a lot more. When the bodies of the vases are identical it doesn’t take away the focus from the decoration. If all the vases were unique, it would together with my naive style refer a lot more to the contemporary studio ceramics of the 20th and 21th century, which is not my aim. Even thought to mass produces is one of my strengths in my own artistic practice, I have during this processes for the first time felt as a producer of objects rather than an artist, which for me is interesting in the relation to the role women has played in ceramics history.

I choose not to show my work on a traditional plinth, since my project is concerning the objects which didn’t make it to the fine art galleries, it would feel contradicting. Instead I am presenting them tightly packed together in an old wooden factory storage shelf. The shelf refers to the making of the object and production for the domestic space, and in the same time they look stored away. In my head, I am imaging that they are standing in the basement of a porcelain manufactory, left behind after they closed down for good. When they closed, no one saw the value in these vases and they were left there together with a piece of the history to be forgotten. Image 21. Caroline Harrius, The Repulsive Flower, 2020

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Conclusion I have been struggling throughout the whole process of making vases. There is a voice in the back of my head that keeps telling me that I should make “art” as my exam project, not just vases. As this project is coming to an end for now, I’m starting to soften I little bit. I don’t know if it is my obsession with repetition, but it is very pleasing to see all the vases lining up in my shelf and I know exactly with one I’m going to bring home with me. But just because I smirk with satisfaction when I look at my 30 shiny vases doesn’t mean that I have answered my question about why I do not value feminine coded ceramics and sees my work as “just vases” and not art. I think the shame I have felt when making the vases and my need to explain why I am doing is interesting, but also hard to answer. In some way I am eager to be a part of the norm that I want to question. It is hard not to feel the pressure of doing cool, trendy and likeable objects when everything’s value is determine by the number of likes on social media.

When I have done research about education and women’s chances to become full time creative artists, it is easier to find answers to my question. I have found out that it has been very hard for women to proceed as ceramics artist, or any kind of creative artist, before 1900; my belief is that the economic and social structures are one of the main reasons, not women’s lack of skill or creativity. It was possible for women to get an art education, but it was expensive and they did not get the same kind of treatment as their male peers; which means the women who worked creatively as their profession most likely were not as skilled as their male peers. But most women did not have art as their profession, women from well-off home were not supposed to work, to have a non working wife was a way to flaunt the family’s wealth.30

These norms also affects how art history is told today; I choose art as my main subject already in high school, and I remember how much I loved the art history lectures. What I did not realise back then was that all my favourite artists were men- which is not very weird since all the focus was on male painters. Painting, or fine art, has been valued as higher art in history than craft31, and I, together we many others, are still taught to have that opinion.

The way we see the domestic space has change hugely the last 200 years; I love my functional apartment and that the dimensions of all IKEA furniture seem to fit the rooms like a glove. But, the standardisations and one taste suits all that came with the modernism in the 20th century seems to be the over decorated objects worst enemy. The porcelain I have been looking at is made a long time ago and does not really fit in today’s norms of good taste. Scandinavian interior design is now known for its light, clutter free surfaces.

Ceramics is getting more and more popular to decorate homes with again and many of my female peers are doing very well selling their small abstract sculptures to private collectors. But, a lot of these objects are non functional and has a given place the contemporary ceramics history. I do like my vases when they are taken out of their context as a functional object and

30 Vincentelli, Women and Ceramics Gendered Vessels, 88 31 Adamson, The Craft Reader, 495.

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presented on a show as conceptual art installation, but will the viewers with very little knowledge about my project read the work in the same way? Or will they simply be read as “something my grandmother would like.” With those thoughts comes the natural fear that my work won’t be viewed as something interesting and valuable that is worth remember and bringing to the galleries.

This small project might be considered finished now, but I do not see it as an end, rather the beginning of a long investigation.

Image 22. Caroline Harrius, The Repulsive Flower, 2020.

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Special thanks to...... Simon and Amba ...everyone who has taken time from their own projects to help me cast ...Anders Ljungberg for always helping out and making me remain calm and positive during the worst of exam situations ...Ella-Marie, Knut, Irene, Marit and Poul for teaching me everything I possibly would need to know ceramics

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Bibliography Adamson, Glenn. The Craft Reader. Berg Publishers, 2009 Ahl, Zandra. Z-A 2013-1998. Gustavsbergs Konsthall, 2013 Ahl, Zandra and Olsson, Emma. Svensk Smak- Myter om den Moderna Formen. Ordfrom Förlag, 2002 Cavanaugh, Alden and Yonan, Michael E. The Cultural Aesthetics of Eighteenth-Century Porcelain. Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2010 Chicago, Judy. Through The Flower: My Struggle as A Woman Artist. Authors Choice Press, 2006 Dahlbäck Lutteman, Helena. Svenskt Porslin Fajans, Porslin och Flintgods 1700-1900. ICA- förlaget AB, 1980 De Waal, Edmund. 20th Centrury Ceramics. Thames & Hudson; First Edition, 2003 Lindberg, Anna Lena. Konst, Kön och Blick: Feministiska bildanalyser från renässans till postmodernism. Studentlitteratur AB, 1995 Livingstone, Andrew and Petrie, Kevin. The Ceramics Reader. Bloomsbury Academic, 2017 Nochlin, Linda. Women, Art, and Power and Other Essays. Thames and Hudson, 1989 Sparke, Penny. As Long as It’s Pink The Sexual Politics of Taste. Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, 2010 Skriftserien Kairos. Feministiska Konstteorier. Raster förlag, 2000 Vincentelli, Moira. Women and Ceramics Gendered Vessels. Manchester University Press, 2000 Wickman, Kerstin. Signe Persson-Melin, Keramiker och Formgivare. T&M Förlag, 1997

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Additional sources Brooklyn Museum ‘The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago.’ Accessed January 10, 2020. https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/dinner_party Charleston The Bloomsbury Home for Art & Ideas ‘Famous Women Dinner Service’ Accessed Febrauy 12, 2020. Accessed February 5, 2020. https://www.charleston.org.uk/visit-charleston/famous-women-dinner-service/ Facebook ’ Svenskt porslin Rörstrand/Uppsala Ekeby mfl köp/sälj/info.’ https://www.facebook.com/groups/670090599773080/ Kungliga Konsthögskolan ‘Vårutställningen 2005.’ Accessed December 4, 2019. https://old.kkh.se/varutstallningen2005/2005/mejan_history.htm National Museum Publications ‘NEWS: The .’ Accessed March 20, 2020. https://nationalmuseumpublications.co.za/the-willow-pattern/ Nationalmuseum ‘Sök i samlingarna, Avancerad sökning.’ Accessed January 7, 2020. http://collection.nationalmuseum.se/eMP/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&module =collection&moduleFunction=search#container Nationalmuseum ‘Find your way around the museum.’ Accessed March 15, 2020. https://www.nationalmuseum.se/en/besök-museet/hitta-i-museet Tate ‘Art & Artist – The Guerrilla Girls’. Accessed January 7, 2020. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/guerrilla-girls-do-women-have-to-be-naked-to-get- into-the-met-museum-p78793

Conversation with Rita Floyd in Värmdö, October 6, 2019.

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Image references Image 1. Caroline Harrius, The Repulsive Flower, 2020, glazed porcelain with details in cobalt and ceramics stains, 32 cm. Photograph taken by Beata Grahn, March 31, 2020. Image 2 and 3. Caroline Harrius, Longing for Rejection, 2018, glazed porcelain with details in cobalt and mirror, 95 x 95 x 100 cm. Image4. Caroline Harrius, Homage to My Fellow Female Crafters, 2019, glazed porcelain with details in cobalt, every plate is 23 cm Image 5. Caroline Harrius, Leopard Girl, 2019 glazed porcelain decorated with ceramics stains, c 15cm. Image 6. Caroline Harrius, Vase, 2020. Glazed porcelain decorated with cobalt, 32 cm. Image 7. Lin Wang, The Harbour Romance, c 2016, casted porcelain with glaze and details in gold and cobalt, 31cm. Image from Lin Wang’s Webpage. ‘The Harbor Romance.’ Accessed January 19, 2020. https://lin-wang-skrt.squarespace.com/#/a-berlin-guide/ Image 8. Sofi Gunnstedt, :), 2018, pinched porcelain with details in cobalt and gold. Image from Konstfack’s Spring Show 2018, ‘Sofi Gunnstedt.’ Accessed January 19, 2020. http://www.konstfack2018.se/bachelor/sofi-gunnstedt/ Image 9. Marianne Hallberg, Handduk, with tin glaze, decorated with cobalt. Image from Sintra’s member’s page, ´Marianne Hallberg.’ Accessed February 5, 2020. https://www.sintra.se/medlemmar/marianne-hallberg.html Image 10. Caroline Harrius, The Repulsive Flower, 2020, glazed porcelain with details in cobalt and ceramics stains, 32 cm. Image 11.Rita Floyd and Neil Brownsword, Factory, 2017, porcelain. Image from Staffordshire’s University’s webpage ‘FACTORY. Exhibited in - Woman’s Hour Craft Prize (touring exhibition).’ Accessed February 5, 2020. http://eprints.staffs.ac.uk/5300/ Image 12. Caroline Harrius, The Repulsive Flower, 2020, glazed porcelain with details in cobalt and ceramics stains, 32 cm. Image 13. Lucie Rie, bowl, c 1975, porcelain, 17.7 x 8.8 cm . Image from Bonham’s online auctions ‘LOT 163AR DAME LUCIE RIE.’ Accessed March 6, 2020. https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/24679/lot/163/ Image 14. Signe Persson Melin, Kinesen, 1986, glazed stoneware, 25.3 x 16.3 x 10.3 cm. Image from Bukowski’s online auction ‘966487 Signe Persson-Melin.’ Accessed March 6, 2020. https://www.bukowskis.com/en/lots/966487-signe-persson-melin-a-kinesen-tea-pot-by- signe-persson-melin-for-rorstrand Image 15. The Spruce, ‘What is Scandinavian Design.’ Accessed March 5, 2020. https://www.thespruce.com/what-is-scandinavian-design-4149404 Image 16. National Museum, The Design Depot, 2019, photograph by Caroline Harrius. Image 17. Caroline Harrius, Test, 2019, porcelain decorated with ceramic stains and gold. Image 18. Hannah Barlow, Equestrian Vase, 1876, stoneware with applied and enameled decoration, 25.4 cm. Image from Chairish’s online shop. Accessed February 27, 2020. https://www.chairish.com/product/1658899/doulton-lambeth-equestrian-vase-by-hannah- barlow

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Image 19. Millicent Taplin, Cane Ware Vase, 1930, polychrome enameled floral and foliate decoration, 16.2 cm. Image from Skinner’s online auctions ‘262 Wedgwood Millicent Taplin Design Cane Ware Vase’ Accessed February 27, 2020. https://www.skinnerinc.com/auctions/2404/lots/262 Image 20. Caroline Harrius, 2020, pinched porcelain decorated with stains and cobalt, 20 cm. Image 21. Caroline Harrius, The Repulsive Flower, 2020, glazed porcelain with details in cobalt and ceramics stains, 32 cm. Image 22. Caroline Harrius, The Repulsive Flower, 2020, glazed porcelain with details in cobalt and ceramics stains, 32 cm.

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Not quite an appendix When I casted my first vase on the 30th of December 2019, I had no idea that the whole world would get turned upside down by a pandemic before I reached number 30. There was no way to be prepared for what 2020 had in store for all of us, and it has affected the outcome of the exam semester in countless ways.

I think one of the main reasons I became a ceramicist is because I hate sitting in front of a computer. Nothing on the screen is real; I can’t touch it or smell it. When I stroke my fingertips over the screen, I can’t feel the structure of the words I am writing. The clay requires my attention every day during the processes, it will remember everything my hands does to it. Clay is very real in relation to the abstract computer. If I forget to cover my sculpture in plastic just for one night, all my work is ruined. I can wait 5 years before I edit a picture on my computer, and the outcome will still be exactly the same.

For me, it has been a nightmare to turn the exam semester into something that only exists on a screen. Yes, it is sad that both the exam show and the spring exhibition got cancel, but it’s the tactilely I miss the most. I want someone to touch my vases without my permission and let them feel the cold porcelain against their skin and afterward study the imprint their fingers left in the dust. I wanted to feel the warmth of a loved one’s hug after my examination. I want to get angry at my classmates for being stupid while we fight about a works position in Vita Havet. But I am left here all alone, tapping the hard keys on my computer over and over again.

There is something very defusing with discussing an exam project with an opponent on a laptop while sitting in the sofa dressed in pyjamas. I can’t read his body language, and if he says something I don’t like, I can just push the off button and his gone. I can’t see the audiences reaction to what I am saying, do they laugh when I make a joke? They might as well be standing in the shower or sleeping, I have no way to tell. I feel that I get along with a lot more people on Zoom that in real life discussions, but it is because only fragments of our personalities makes it through the tiny lenses and microphones.

In one way, I still feel that I am one of the lucky ones in this situation. I am born in the 90’s, and as all teenagers in the beginning of this century, I had the dream of becoming a photographer. My friends and I always brought the camera wherever we went, even a walk home from the bus stop could be turned in to an adventure through the camera lens. All of these pictures were of course uploaded to Bilddagboken32. This is something I have very much brought with me to my adult life. I unconsciously make a lot of creative decisions depending on if the work will look good on photo or not. Many of my works are visually pleasing and made to look great on social media, this work is not an exception.

I thought I knew what anticlimax meant before this semester, but I had no idea. There is always something bittersweet with finishing a big project, but I am sad to say that I can’t remember any happy or sweet moment from this spring. My only wish is that the future will bring good things and that no one else will have to finish 7 years of craft studies in this way.

32 A Swedish virtual picture diary; 2007’s version of Instagram 26