Erna Aaltonen

Recent works

May 13 - June 29, 2023

Erna Aaltonen Spheres. Private collections , courtesy Galerie de l'Ancienne Poste

World-renowned Finnish ceramic artist Erna Aaltonen (born 1951) presents a set of fourteen unreleased Spheres specially created for this third solo show at the Galerie de l’Ancienne Poste. After exploring sculptural or structured forms such as her Monoliths, the artist returns to her first spherical and ovoidal pieces, the famous Spheres so very emblematic of her art. These new works fit within an aesthetic continuity dear to the artist, who thus continues her favourite designs all the while introducing subtle changes that will delight her worldwide collectors.

Balanced and elegant, these new works exude peacefulness and serenity, as with all the artist’s previous Spheres. “The shape and structure of the surface, the colour and the glaze must make up a homogenous, harmonious whole. My one and only objective is for the object to be beautiful”, underlines Erna Aaltonen with significance. The works of Erna Aaltonen feature in numerous public and private collections in Europe, in the United States, China, Japan and Korea. The artist received Finland’s Grand Prix for Design in 2014, and the gold medal from Faenza’s International Museum of Ceramics in Italy in 2015.

Exhibition catalogue
Erna Aaltonen in Connaissance des Arts

Part-vases, part-sculptures, majestic or modest in size, burnished or luminous, or even “round and abstract” as defined by Erna Aaltonen herself, the Spheres are both powerful and ethereal, being anchored, solid and fixed but also making us feel that they might suddenly become alive and weightless thanks to their diaphanous, almost atmospheric appearance. Erna Aaltonen happens to be very inspired by nature, living and working in Fiskars, an ancient historical blacksmith village surrounded by forests and lakes. Suffused with great poetry, her Spheres evoke the flight of time that flows like the passing seasons and the renewal of life. Their pure lines and perfect harmony induce a sense of softness, joyfulness and peacefulness
Stéphanie Gachon
Art historian
Extract from Excerpt from the exhibition catalogue