Porcelain

Maria Valdma has introduced porcelain as a new material in this exhibition. While wood is an everyday material that has risen to a dignified status, porcelain is a luxury commodity that has become commonplace. For thousands of years, it could only be made in China, before the technology finally spread to Europe in the 18th century. Chinese porcelain was so expensive that very few could afford it.

What is particularly fascinating about Valdma’s porcelain fragments is their certain minimalism, which is more reminiscent of her earlier jewellery than her recent series. Apart from a few pearls, stones or even attachments, these are extremely simple forms, without complicated layers or pendants. The fragments are white and black, with delicate imprints of book corners on their surface. The white ones resemble clean sheets of paper, while the black ones appear extraordinarily fragile: as if they had burned to ashes a moment ago and could fall apart in the slightest movement.