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Slow Ceramics from Tortus Copenhagen

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Slow Ceramics from Tortus Copenhagen

February 20, 2014

Hidden off a quiet courtyard in the heart of Copenhagen’s bustling shopping district, you’ll find the calm oasis of Tortus Copenhagen. Here, housed in a 19th-century truss-style building, master potters Eric Landon and Karin Blach Nielsen follow a century-old tradition of Danish ceramics, creating timeless vessels the old-fashioned way, methodically, at their own humble pace.

tortus copenhagen unglazed fluted

Above: Dramatically proportioned, yet with a clean silhouette, Tortus’s bowls await the glazing process.

tortus copenhagen studio 2

Above: Much like their ceramics, Eric and Karin’s studio represents a marriage of rich tradition and modern design.

tortus copenhagen eric landon

Above: Master potter and designer Eric Landon sits in the studio’s doorway, which opens onto the sunlit courtyard. A graduate of the Danish School of Design, he’s been working with ceramics since he was 16 and has received a number of awards for his work. 

process tortus copenhagen 0

Above: For Landon, Tortus is as much about the process, “the love of making and a passion for the materials,” as it is about the end result. 

tortus copenhagen fluted with Eric

Above: Landon surveys unglazed pots in the truss-style studio.

karin bach nielsen tortus copehagen 0

Above: Karin Blach Nielsen, a graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, is Tortus’s “architect of color and surface”–in other words, she’s the glaze master.  

Slow Ceramics from Tortus Copenhagen portrait 9

Above: Tortus’s finished vessels represent “a seamless dialogue between design and process.”

Slow Ceramics from Tortus Copenhagen portrait 10

Above: The ceramics are for sale in a minimal showroom at one end of the studio. You can also purchase Tortus’s piece at their online shop, Selected by Tortus

Screen Shot 2013 06 13 at 7.52.51 PM

Above: A detail of one of Karin’s richly layered glazes.

tortus copenhagen fluted vessel

Above: A serene and stately pot from Tortus’s fluted collection, a prime example of the studio’s mix of traditional craft and modern form.

tortus copenhagen unglazed pots

Above: Unfinished pieces await Karin’s glaze consideration.

tortus copenhagen red stool

Witness Tortus’s creative process in action in a video shot from a very unexpected perspective.

N.B.: This post is an update; the original story ran on June 13, 2013 as part of our Nautical Notes issue.

Take a tour of another inspired ceramics studio with Heath’s Adam Silverman. Also have a look at A French Potter at the Wheel in New York.

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