Ceramic Lighting & Candelabra Collection by Jan Ernst.

The Womb sconce 01 in white stoneware is an extension of Ernst’s original Womb table lights.

Jan Ernst unveiled a new body of ceramic works with Galerie Revel earlier this year. For the South African creative, designs emerge from the natural world resulting in a symbiosis of emotion and function. Although nature is the starting point, his creations tend to lean into the abstract. For this collection, Jan was inspired by the majestic rock formations found in South Africa’s Cederberg region, dating back thousands of years.

In the Womb lighting collection, two table lamps, two pendant lamps and two wall lamps pay homage to the dual concepts of birth and fire—the genesis and means of survival of our species. Crafted from white stoneware, Womb Lamp I and Womb Lamp II feature sharp, undulating edges from which a bright, yet comforting, light emanates, reminiscent of a cave in which the first humans would have lit a fire.

“The collection evokes our deep-seated feelings of ‘the primal’ and unlocks the unknown potential that is hidden in the cavities of our world while celebrating life through luminescence,” Jan explains.

For the very first time, the designer introduced wall sconces to his practice, one made of white stoneware and the other of black clay. “The wall lights are an extension of the original Womb Table lights,” Jan elaborates. “The more I engaged with the initial concept of life and birth, fire and ancestry the more I realised it needed to be expressed further but through different perspectives.”

Two pendant lights complete the collection, reinforcing the cyclical notion of human life and birth. Much like a mother and child, these works are independent but in perpetual dialogue, they can exist together or separately.

“The pendants were created in two different sizes to depict an evolution and layering of ‘becoming’ and ‘growth’. I wanted the viewer to be transported into a space that holds chance and opportunity,” Jan explains. “The pendants float as organic masses in the void and encourage the viewer to engage with their content. Much like a cave that reveals very little from the outside, but holds mystery and intrigue, the hanging sculptures reflect this through a layering of volume, texture and interplay of light.”

Alongside his new lighting pieces, Jan introduces the Forest Candelabra collection – a series of candle holders whose intriguing presence recalls the curiosities and contradictions found in the woodland. Through physical interaction with these functional sculptures, a relationship is created between humans and nature that is intimate and comfortable.

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The Womb table light 01 is reminiscent of a cave.

The Forest Candelebra 05.

[Images courtesy of Jan Ernst.]