Steen Ipsen

Steen's work steers away from that of his traditional ceramic background. Traditional Danish ceramics such as made by the Royal Copenhagen company combine stylistic and conventional forms that serve a practical purpose. Royal Copenhagen has been described as “one of the world’s most successful producers of fine dinnerware”. His work consists of organic forms that explore movement and natural processes such as crystallization, cell division and cell fusion. Throughout his career Steen has often worked within themes over periods of time, perfecting the form he is working with through practice and repetition.

Steen's work has been collected by many galleries internationally and different works are kept in public collections all over the globe. His work is included in the following galleries’ collections:

Unlike most of his works, Geometric is a rigid form that doesn't appear as fluid or moveable. This form follows a path of geometric abstraction, developing further the typical geometric lines and shapes. They follow a basic rule of rectangular or line repetition. In a monochrome black glaze, the simplicity of the line as singular versus the complexity of the repetition creating the whole form is clear. Sometimes accompanied by a connected red circular form, the straight black lines of the rectangular abstraction are highlighted and contrasted. Placing the ‘free form’ circular shape next to the quadrilateral line as well as the red glaze next to the black glaze really highlight the differences in the forms. Here in this work Steen is expanding the geometric universe mimicking the repetitions in nature but with an industrialist twist.

Similar to the bubble series, the ‘spikes’ are a naturalistic form that bears a likeness to a living creature, like a sea urchin for example. These forms were created around 2005-2007 where steen "broke with the traditional understanding of classical forms and made a radical change to a more informal expression". Using bright colours he intended to provoke the imagination of the viewer, extending their perspective of the natural world and perceiving it in new and bright ways. This series is a marker point for when he started to shift away from more traditional forms and into a more organic free-form expression.

Steen's most explored form consists of repeated spherical arrangements moulded together and then ‘tied up’ with strings of PVC or leather. This form, considered by many to be his signature work style, having worked with it consistently since 2007, it is an investigation into the formal structure and repeated natural occurrences. His art-making practice consists of making his own plaster moulds from which the clay balls are formed. Then joining multiple balls together a more wholistic clay structure is made. then, after the clay has dried, Steen then sands the clay until it is completely smooth. Lastly the process of glazing and firing multiple times at very high temperatures so that the colour is even and satisfactory. The result of these efforts is an exploration into form and movement, highlighting the convex and concave curves of the pieces. Steen quotes that “Many years of experience with more rigorous hand modelling of objects has given me the desire to work with a spontaneous, playful, and easy freehand technique. An initial sketch of the scenario helps me to minimize the distance between the idea and the finished object.” Steen explains his intentions behind the work as “to show the contrast to the shape of the object and how I can change the movement of the sculpture while also emphasizing a strong graphical expression”.

‘Extrudox’ a collaboration work between steen Ipsen and Anne Tophoj focused on the form a ceramics as a result of using a tool called an extruder. This machine is often used to create pipes and hollow metal forms for construction. By working with this machine Anne described the ceramic forms as being “finished in the same tempo as they come out of the extruder”. This technique would be described and free and mechanically organic. Compared to much of steen's other work this collaboration is much less perfected and time-consuming. As soon as the clay comes out of the extruder it is already a fully formed and ‘completed’ object, all that is left if to glaze and fired it. Also, whilst steen doesn't often use machines to create his current works like ‘Tied-Up’ this work is very different from anything else he has done.

From the early 90s, Steen has been a part of a great number of exhibitions, both as an individual and as a part of a group. These exhibitions have been in Denmark as well as internationally, such as the Cheongju International Crafts Biennale in Korea in 2013 and multiple ceramics Biennales which feature artists from all over the world.

In 2011 Steen made a series of works titled “Extrudox A/S” in collaboration with fellow Danish ceramicist Anne Tophøj. This work focussed on new techniques of shaping clay with the example of the extruder. Using this machine meant that the clay was heated and could be pulled in one continuous profile (in forms such piping or tubing). Together they experimented with this new way of creating, which resulted in a variety of differently shaped and coloured forms. In their statement for their exhibition at the Ann Linnemann Gallery in Copenhagen, they said “Extruding… is a here-and-now technique, where objects are finished in taste tempo as they come out of the extruder”.

Steen was first admitted to the Danish School of design in Copenhagen in 1984 but after changing to the Design School Kolding in 1987 he then graduated in 1990 with a degree majoring in Ceramics. The reason for this change he quoted “The School in Copenhagen was at that time aimed at the more traditional concept of ceramics such as dish-ware, vases, bowls etc. The school in Kolding offered other options and there was a focus on contemporary and sculptural ceramics”.

Steen Ipsen (born 1966) is a Danish artist known for his contemporary free form ceramic work. Starting his artistic career in the 1990s he is now well known internationally and has been quoted by the Danish Arts Foundation as "one of the most gifted ceramic artists in Denmark" . His work combines the clean, simplistic form of traditional Danish ceramics with bright colours, creating a new hybrid form. He generally creates his art in series, his works follow on from a common theme which is usually based on natural occurrences such as crystallisation, cell division and cell fission. Aside from his artistic career, he has also worked as a lecturer for the Danish School of Design (Copenhagen) from 1996 to 2004 teaching design basics as well as the ceramics art form.