Erna Aaltonen

Symphony of the Spheres

July 4 - September 3, 2015

Erna Aaltonen exhibition. Galerie de l'Ancienne Poste. Toucy June 2015. Photos © Anne Nguyen Dao

For summer 2015, Galerie de l'Ancienne Poste is pleased to present an exceptional exhibition in France by Finnish ceramist Erna Aaltonen world-renowned for her rounded, hand-assembled sculptures: the minimalist, elegant forms of her pieces represent the quintessence of contemporary Finnish aesthetics for many international collectors. Last November, the artist was awarded the Grand Prix du Design by the Finnish State, and in the spring of 2015 she received the Gold Medal of the Museo Internazionale della Ceramica di Faenza in Italy for her body of work, as part of the Biennale Internazionale di Ceramica di Faenza. Erna Aaltonen's work can be found in numerous public and private collections in Europe, the United States, China, Japan and Korea.

Exhibition catalogue
Erna Aaltonen in L’OEIL

Pure forms inspired by nature, finely worked surfaces as sober as graphs, subtle nuances of colour which change with the light, both classic and very contemporary, the pieces of Erna Aaltonen (born in Loimaa in 1951) have the elegant sobriety of timeless masterpieces [...|
For Erna Aaltonen, the effects of the material occupy a primordial place and it is this skin of textured clay, finely engraved, incised, striated, scratched (with a metal saw) which gives the work its personality, its sensuality, its mystery. In a remarkable graphic play the carved lines dance and converge toward the summit of the object infusing it with dynamic movement. [...]
The ceramist likes pale pastel colours, neither too strong nor too sharp. Rather soft tones – shades of beiges or greys, ochre, greens and dull blues, as though weathered with time. Each sculptured object, both strong and fragile, discretely imposes its presence in the space. Everything here is in harmony, the work of Erna Aaltonen immediately seductive is propitious to contemplation - to meditation.
Guillaume Morel
Journalist and art critic
Excerpt from Excerpt from the exhibition catalogue.