Patty Wouters
Curriculum Vitae
Patty Wouters (°57) is a Belgian ceramist with an impressive career.
She studied graphic design and ceramics at the art academies of Antwerp and Hasselt and at Wolverhampton University in the UK.
She participated in master classes with well-known ceramists and her work has been awarded several international prizes.
Patty Wouters likes to connect people. In 1987, she founded the artistic association "Atelier Cirkel (Cercle) " in Brasschaat, where she organised various workshops in ceramics and other art disciplines and of which she was coordinator for more than 30 years. Similarly, she organised international ceramics biennials in which 80 ceramists from 18 different countries participated with thousands of visitors from home and abroad.
For the 1000th anniversary celebrations of porcelain in China, she was invited to participate with a delegation of Belgian ceramists.
She was appointed guest professor and taught in the ceramics department of two universities in South Korea for 1 year.
Patty was accepted as a member of IAC, the International Academy of Ceramists, an organisation that aims to promote ceramics as an art form and provide support to ceramists around the world (somewhat similar to the "Académie Française").
Patty participates in numerous international competitions and events and is invited worldwide to give lectures, demonstrations and ceramics symposia.
She organised several important solo exhibitions and is selected to participate in numerous group exhibitions.
Inspiration
Symbolism combined with intriguing messages of vulnerability play a prominent role in many of her works.
Her work shows personal reverence for civilisations and cultures, for life events and for the various aspects of human struggle with everyday reality and with the unexpected.
Through her work, Patty demonstrates her passionate commitment to communicate.
Patty's ceramics therefore do not just want to be viewed, but rather revealed.
Technique
Patty has mastered several techniques in ceramics.
The works on display in Gallery Adrienne D are made from porcelain clay covered with terra sigillata. This ancient technique was perfected by the Greeks and Romans more than 2,000 years ago. The primitive firing involved in this type of work makes Patty seek a balance between controlling and manipulating the materials on the one hand, and the ever-present element of surprise from the fire on the other.
The work is polished smooth and covered with terra sigillata. It is then fired at low temperature so that flames, smoke and the impact of ash can do their full work.
This produces unique, harmonious pottery colours with porcelain, ranging from marbled white or cream tones, through rich orange ochres, to smoky greys and blacks.
