AN INTERVIEW WITH KAREN KOTZE ON HER CERAMIC EXHIBITION “CURATING VESSELS” IN THE CUBE.

16 April 2026

1. Curating Vessels lets viewers mix and match your pieces — how does seeing people interact with your work change the way you think about it?

Interaction was the original starting point for these pieces. It informed both the overall forms and the way the sculptural knobs relate to different vessel profiles across possible combinations. I was interested in how each element could shift depending on what it’s paired with.

What I find most rewarding is watching people respond intuitively. They’re often drawn to certain combinations without necessarily having the language to explain why. They are responding to line, repetition, balance, or the interplay between positive and negative space, without necessarily having the formal training of an artist. That instinctive engagement feels important to me.

People’s preferences are shaped by personal experience and taste in ways I can’t predict. I love when someone feels strongly about a combination that wouldn’t have been my first choice. It speaks to a kind of diversity and individuality that goes beyond my own perspective. It is a reminder that the work can hold meanings and relationships I could never fully determine on my own.

2. You’ve worked with hand-building, slip casting, and now glaze development — what keeps you exploring new processes in ceramics?

Curiosity, mostly. Each process has its own language and limitations, and I’m interested in how those constraints shape the outcome. Moving between techniques keeps the work from becoming too comfortable or predictable. It also allows me to respond to ideas more precisely.  Sometimes a concept demands the softness of hand-building, other times the repetition of slip casting, or the unpredictability that is always part of my glaze chemistry dabbling. Exploring new processes feels like expanding my vocabulary as a ceramicist.

3. You’ve said that the process matters more to you than the final piece — how does that shape the way you work and experiment?

It takes the pressure off the outcome and allows for more risk. When the process is the priority, failure becomes part of the work rather than something to avoid. I can follow a line of experimentation without needing it to resolve into a predesigned object. That mindset makes space for accidents, for slowness, and for paying attention to subtle shifts in material and form. In a way, the final piece is just a trace of that exploration.

4. Your sculptural knobs have a very distinctive botanical feel — where does that inspiration come from, and what does it mean to you?

A lot of it comes from closely observing nature. I’m fascinated by the depth of natural systems; from the trace minerals in the soil that sustain microbial and fungal life, to the way those systems support plant life, and ultimately animal life. The complexity contained within something as simple as a backyard garden bed is truly mind-blowing.

When observing plants and other organic forms. I’m drawn to structures that feel both delicate and resilient, organic, yet slightly unfamiliar. The knobs become small, tactile translations of those qualities. They’re meant to be touched and held, so referencing natural forms also brings a sense of intimacy and recognition.

5. Ceramics sits somewhere between craft, design, and fine art — how do you see your work fitting into that spectrum, and how do you hope people experience it?

I’m interested in staying in that in-between space rather than choosing one category. The functional aspects of ceramics like weight, touch, usability are important to me, but so is the conceptual and sculptural side. I think of the work as something that can be lived with but also contemplated. Ideally, people experience it on multiple levels: first through sight, then touch and use, and then more slowly through form, detail, and association. That overlap is where the work feels most alive to me.