These beautiful ceramic bottles by Object & Totem are now available in the Wiksten shop.
Julianne Ahn is the maker behind Object & Totem, and she was kind enough to chat with us about her creative background and what she loves most about ceramics:
"As a textiles student,
I loved to draw and since then I've gone from making collages,
embroidery and stencils to using natural materials like sea grass and
found pieces of wood.
Producing objects and accessories began as an extension of my studio in
2010. I suppose I found
myself at the height of creative uncertainty that clay was the perfect
medium for learning something new about the way I work.
In a lot of
ways, it taught me to slow things down, even when I thought things
couldn't be any slower. Instead of always looking towards the end goal
of having quantity, I can sort of now enjoy the thoughts that circle my
head during times, for example, when I clean my tools or bike to
studio. There is a satisfaction in these moments that when I see
something I made, I can look back to that entire week or so and see it
transcribed in a physical object.
The most valuable lesson I've learned
so far is that clay has memory. For example, if you accidentally dent a
bowl and try to fix it, it'll eventually want to return to being dented
as if it had a life of its own. I can't tell you how many times I've
tried to make something and have it turned into something else. (half
my vessels were probably failed attempts at making cups!)
I don't have a
favorite piece I've made yet, but I do own a vintage Japanese ceramic
piece purchased in Adamstown, Pennsylvania a few years ago. It's a two
piece container with an allover hand painted floral design in rich blues
and browns. I think it was made in the early 20th century and I'm not
sure what it was used for, but I like that I can feel parts where the
makers fingers would have rested and I like to imagine his or her hands
are similar to the size of my own. It's not perfectly painted and
probably doesn't have any resell value, but I find the charm through its
marked history."
Ahn's website can be found here, and she sells some awesome necklaces in her Etsy store here.
