Frauke Fege
Frauke Fege was born in East Germany were she initially studied electrical engineering at the Technical University of Dresden. Within that degree she spent a year at Bath University where she attended evening classes in pottery and first came into contact with clay and throwing. After two years of working as an engineer she enrolled on the BTEC Studio Ceramics Course at the Royal Forest of Dean College, where she also started attending life drawing classes. It was here that her interest in the human figure was kindled, one of the main sources of inspiration. Further studies in Ceramics & Glass at Wolverhampton University followed. During her studies she volunteered at a number of events, Art in Clay at Hatfield House, Earth & Fire at Rufford, The Wheel conference at Royal Forest of Dean College, the International Ceramics Festival at Aberystwyth and the G.A.S. conference in Amsterdam, and saw a great variety of work. At the end of her BA (hons) degree in Ceramics & Glass, Frauke won the student Award at Art in Clay at Hatfield House.
Developing new work after her degree has been influenced by her love of throwing and the figure and combining the two is an ongoing investigation. After some three years her career took a detour with a teacher training course in secondary Maths. Balancing her part-time teaching and her studio practice is a constant challenge. Sources of inspiration also come from body language and movement, the local landscape, colours of the sea and sailing. Thrown pieces aim to capture movement and the softness of the clay during the making process and invite a more tactile relationship with pots. Throwing is a compromise between control and letting go and will hopefully never result in the perfect pot. |