Sculptural Ceramic Lamps by Carmen D’Apollonio

Photography by Schaub Stierli Fotografie.

No two pieces from Zurich-born, LA-based potter Carmen D’Apollonio look the same. Entirely handmade, her ceramic sculptures, vessels and lamps embody an expressive approach, with fluid lines, movement and rippling texture. Despite her bold and assured sculptures, D’Apollonio has a varied creative background that includes working as artist Urs Fischer’s assistant and starting her own fashion line, Ikou Tschuss. However, since collaborating with French fashion brand Céline in 2015 on producing three commissioned pieces, D’Apollonio’s ceramics have taken off.

Like her finished pieces, D’Apollonio’s work process is fluid, beginning by sketching her designs before copying them into clay, evolving the form as she goes. Initially made for her own home, ceramic lamps are now D’Apollonio’s primary ware, each of which are fairly distinct. The lamps are elegant, functional sculptures, outfitted with lights for their own exposition, making them both self-effacing and self-aggrandizing, a humorous touch that characterizes much of the artist’s work.

Photography Margarete Jakschik.

The animated, undulating shapes make each piece appear almost lifelike, similar to organisms or little creatures, with D’Apollonio expressing that to her, every lamp or sculpture seems to come alive. Some pieces are less abstract and more obviously lifelike, such as a series of upside-down planters carved in the shape of a face, named ‘potheads’.

Once formed, each work is covered in plastic and left to dry out over the course of six months before firing. The artist then uses a gas kiln to fire each piece, turning the clay to stone, so the end result resembles more of an artefact than your typical ceramic item. Most lamps are then finished with a simple, coloured shade in a contrasting tone to whatever the solid base is made from, such as olive green with electric blue or baby pink.

Embracing the never-ending possibilities of working with clay, D’Apollonio’s one-woman production line shows no signs of slowing down.