Text: Sarah Juergel

The exhibition WE SHALL SEA by the artist Sarah Pschorn invites us on a paradisiacal fantasy journey. At the beginning we are greeted by objects on a wall-mounted shelf and as we approach the gallery space we encounter a playful arrangement of about 25 ceramic sculptures created between 2021 and 2022. The show features a special selection of objects from the We Shall Sea, Shellfoam, Pirates Gospel and Cloudy series. In the quantitatively dense presentation, sculptures made of clay or porcelain are placed on discs cut out of tree stumps which are scattered around the room. These bases, made out of trees such as pine or birch, vary in size and are in different stages of drying, thus expanding the objects into an olfactory installative assemblage. Sarah Pschorn’s favourite form of expression, the vase, has visibly changed: The neck of the vase opens up, the body becomes more free and more voluminous, while the portraiture of the characterful individuals remains intact. The noticeable transformation of Pschorn’s objects from the original vessel shape and the shift towards more open organic and complex coral-like structures becomes visible for the first time in this exhibition. Pschorn’s typical colourfulness, inspired by design, fashion and pop culture, now meets muted and earthy tones resulting from her observations of nature. The multi-layered application of colour with glaze has a painterly liveliness. Lots of green, blue as well as brown tones form a basic palette are accentuated by pink, lilac, platinum and lustre. The glaze is shiny and shimmering, looking almost wet and seemingly running down the exterior of the vessels and sculptures. The colouring has both radiance and seriousness and is complemented by a mysterious and depth-giving glaze that the artist developed during her recent stay at the European Ceramics Work Centre (EKWC). The glaze always has a surprising effect on ceramics and alternates between blue, grey and black in its dark tonality. The resulting eventful and contrasting colour landscapes are visually appealing and awaken the desire to explore them more deeply. With her intricate plant-like elements and the motif of the shell, Sarah Pschorn creates a dreamy-elysian garden between the realms of underwater worlds, the earthly and the clouds.