Flow is delighted to showcase the work of two established Norwegian ceramicists, Nina Malterud and Astrid Sleire, during London Craft Week 2020 and in collaboration with the Norwegian Embassy. The exhibition ‘Ceramic Landscapes, a show from Norway’ will showcase the sculptural qualities of Astrid Sleire’s work with the experimental, painterly wall plates by Nina Malterud’s. Through distinct practices and varying techniques, these two artists share a similar approach through texture, glaze and colour.
Nina Malterud’s ceramics plates are made through the application of many layers of glazes that undergo multiple firings. These layers create depth in her work and a flat plate becomes alive with texture and painterly qualities. Chemical reactions that occur between the raw materials applied and the heat of the kiln create sensuous fluid patterns reminiscent of landscape paintings. The finish can never be exactly repeated but can only be traced back to the ingredients used. These qualities are the very theme of Malterud’s work. She aims to find unexpected beauty in marks made through process; the cracks, pinholes and other ceramic ‘faults’ are all very welcome in her plates.

Astrid Sleire makes abstract forms in ceramic the fragments placed together carefully refering to both architectural structures and nature. Once created each form is then deconstructed so that new shapes appear through the dismantling of the original object. The fragments are in transformation, referring to changing surroundings, to what remains unfinished and is continuously evolving. The forms are assembled together to create a ceramic landscape. Exploring balance and movement, each component in conversation with another.