Having met in Paris for their deliberations, the Craft Prize jury has chosen ‘I only know what I have seen’, 2023 by Andrés Anza,
The jury has also awarded three special mentions. One goes to Miki Asai for their work ‘Still Life’, 2023. Another special mention goes to ‘#16’, 2023 by Heechan Kim.
A final special mention goes to emmanuel boos for ‘Coffee Table ‘Comme un lego’’, 2023
The 2024 finalists
These 30 works selected by the expert panel will appear in the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2024 exhibition, hosted this spring in Paris.
Name of finalist: Andrés Anza
Country/region of entry: Mexico
Name of work: 'I only know what I have seen'
Category: Ceramics
Materials: Ceramics
This life-sized totemic ceramic conjures both plant and animal forms. Assembled in five parts, the work is constructed from refractory clay and features a dynamic composition which appears to twist, turn and fold in on itself. Thousands of tiny, spiked protrusions covering the work’s surface lend it a further amorphic quality. After the work was fired in a kiln to give an even surface, acrylic paint was applied. This monochromatic finish allows light and shadow to further emphasise the work’s highly textured surface.
Name of finalist: Miki Asai
Country/region of entry: Japan
Name of work: 'Still Life'
Category: Jewellery
Materials: Wood, paper, Kashu, eggshell, seashell, mineral pigment
Taking inspiration from still-life paintings as a metaphor for daily life, miniature vessels form the basis of these three sculptural rings. The body of each vessel is formed from paper, and the surfaces are variously treated with tiny fragments of crushed eggshell, pressed to create the illusion of cracked glazing and mosaicked with seashell to add iridescence. Layers of mineral pigment are then applied to create variations in colour before the vessels are mounted onto hollowed-out wooden blocks. The surface of the wood is also treated using these materials and techniques. The rings are finished using kashu-urushi, a type of lacquer sourced from cashew trees, sanded to create a smooth finish.
Name of finalist: Patrick Bongoy
Country/region of entry: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Name of work: 'CY15'
Category: Textiles
Materials: Recycled rubber, inner tubes, silicone, metal valves, wire
Fine strands of thread, solidified in lacquer and gilded with gold, silver and tin using the Makie-technique, have been layered to create this work. The metallic coatings reflect the light with varying intensities to create a gentle sense of movement which is further enhanced by the undulating pattern of the strands. This work utilises a new technique, based on the historic kanshitsu dry lacquer tradition, but here instead of draping a single piece of cloth over a surface, many threads have been used, resulting in an object in which lacquer is integral to its structure rather than used solely as a finish.
Name of finalist: emmanuel boos
Country/region of entry: France
Name of work: Coffee table 'Comme un Lego'
Category: Ceramics
Materials: Porcelain, Tenmoku black, wood
Functionality combines with fragility in this coffee table crafted from 98 hollow bricks. Held in place without the use of glue, each brick can be individually lifted from the structure. A sense of playfulness is contrasted with the deep and muted colour palette of the bricks, which have been slip-cast from porcelain and fired with a Tenmoku-glaze. Plaster moulds were used to cast each brick, punched with two holes so that they can be held in place with dowels. The tabletop sits on five sturdier bricks which are also built from porcelain, but using the slab method with an inner wall for strength.
Name of finalist: Chun Tai Chen
Country/region of entry: Taiwan Region
Name of work: 'In Simplicity'
Category: Paper
Materials: Paper, dye, glue, aluminum, stainless steel, brass
Layer upon layer of thin paper, each indented meticulously with individual serrations, have been compressed together and bound into three blocks to create this series. Tiny notches were carved into each layer, and dye carefully applied, before each block was repeatedly ground to reveal a gentle gradation across its surface, evoking the striation of rock that acts as a marker of the passage of time. The repetitive and meditative process used to create the work pays testament to the concept of humility in Eastern philosophy.
Name of finalist: Eunmi Chun
Country/region of entry: Republic of Korea
Name of work: 'Wings of the Blue Bird'
Category: Jewellery
Materials: Cow's small intestine, thread, ink
This feather-shaped necklace is made using an innovative technique unique to the artist. The work is constructed entirely from the small intestines of cows. After being dried and dyed in shades of blue on wooden boards to transform them into a parchment-like material, the intestines are cut to resemble plumage, before being carefully sewn together to create the necklace. The work explores notions of masquerading and projecting, and presenting an assumed identity to the world.
Name of finalist: Ange
Country/region of entry: Mali
Name of work: 'Harmony of Grigris'
Category: Textiles
Materials: Cardboard, newspaper, cotton thread, acrylic, cowrie shell
This textile work explores the practice of wearing personal protective amulets, often called gris-gris in West Africa. An array of gris-gris have been created using briquettes made from compressed cardboard. Each briquette is covered with newspaper in homage to the artist’s father who worked as a printer. The gris-gris, all of varying sizes, are assembled using cotton thread to create a lattice-like structure. Combined, they have the appearance of a patchwork tapestry. Shells, some encased in red thread, are also attached to the lattice. The artist stresses a spiritual dimension to the work, which acts as a metaphor for the search for diversity and harmony.
Name of finalist: Ken Eastman
Country/region of entry: United Kingdom
Name of work: 'Don't get around much anymore'
Category: Ceramics
Materials: Stoneware clay, slips, oxides
Demonstrating a mastery of clay, this ceramic vessel is a study in composition and balance. Slabs of white stoneware clay have been skilfully brought together to create a multi-faceted vessel which represents a unique ceramic language. Each plane seemingly moves in a different direction, an effect that is further enhanced through the application of multiple layers of coloured slips and oxides, creating gradients across the surface. The work has undergone multiple firings and the undulation of the surface, combined with colour and light, are integral to the work.
Name of finalist: Jeremy Frey
Country/region of entry: United States
Name of work: 'Symphony in Ash'
Category: Other
Materials: Black ash, sweet grass, synthetic dye
This elaborate geometric basket has been realised on an impressive scale and reinterprets ancestral Wabanaki nation weaving techniques to create a unique modern form. Materials native to Maine, including sweet grass and brown ash, have been harvested from the artist’s immediate environment, split into thin strips and then plate-woven into a lidded basket comprising two pieces. Graphic surface patterning has been achieved by colouring some of the strips with dye. The work also features spiked quill projections, created through a complex multi-layered porcupine weaving process.
Name of finalist: Karl Fritsch
Country/region of entry: New Zealand
Name of work: 'Pukana'
Category: Jewellery
Materials: Silver, gold, synthetic gemstones
This set of five contemporary rings, crafted in silver and gold, demonstrates an innovative technique that upends the traditional method for setting stones in jewellery. The shape of the rings is modelled using wax which is punctuated with gemstones. After the casting process, these synthetic gemstones, including laboratory-created imitation sapphires and rubies, are reinserted into the holes and fixed in place. The bands feature unexpected spontaneous forms, and in many of the rings the gemstones protrude, moving through, rather than sitting on top of, the rings.
Name of finalist: Kevin Grey
Country/region of entry: United Kingdom
Name of work: 'Displaced'
Category: Metal
Materials: 1.2 mm bronze sheet
Bronze sheet has been cut into individual panels which are TIG-welded together to create a hollow circular band with high-relief jagged edges. The technique is inspired by the artist’s background in car manufacturing and design. Created without a preparatory sketch or drawing, the angle of each opposing panel has been decided intuitively, and the resulting undulating edges give the work a sense of constant movement. The jagged edges of the work represent the hostility faced by displaced people around the world and the base only partially touches the surface it is placed on, allowing pockets of light to stream through.
Name of finalist: Raven Halfmoon
Country/region of entry: United States
Name of work: 'Weeping Willow Women'
Category: Ceramics
Materials: Ceramic, glaze
This monumental ceramic work pays tribute to the artist’s Caddo Nation ancestors and ancestral techniques. The dark chocolate clay reflects the homeland of the Caddo where they have sourced clay for thousands of years. The work fuses Caddo ceramic traditions with studio ceramic techniques and has been realised using the hand-built coil method, an impressive technical accomplishment at this scale. Six heads feature in the work, three emerging on each side, with one side glazed in cream and the other in red, a reference to both the Oklahoma soil and other important Indigenous issues, such as the murder of Indigenous women. Expressive impressions of the artist’s hands can be seen across the work’s surface, and it is finished with contrasting black and red gestural mark-making that references Caddo symbols used in pottery, tattooing and other cultural items.
Name of finalist: Yuefeng He
Country/region of entry: People’s Republic of China
Name of work: 'Bamboo Rock'
Category: Lacquer
Materials: Bamboo, lacquer, tile ash, linen
Fine strands of thread, solidified in lacquer and gilded with gold, silver and tin using the Makie-technique, have been layered to create this work. The metallic coatings reflect the light with varying intensities to create a gentle sense of movement which is further enhanced by the undulating pattern of the strands. This work utilises a new technique, based on the historic kanshitsu dry lacquer tradition, but here instead of draping a single piece of cloth over a surface, many threads have been used, resulting in an object in which lacquer is integral to its structure rather than used solely as a finish.
Name of finalist: Ferne Jacobs
Country/region of entry: United States
Name of work: 'Origins'
Category: Textile
Materials: Coiled and twined waxed linen thread
Waxed linen thread has been used in three different ways to create this orange textile work with contrasting cream detailing. Coiling is used to build the piece wrap by wrap, twining is employed as a weaving technique and knotting provides structure to the twining. The intricate structure, made entirely by hand through a painstaking process, has an amorphous, fluid form that furls and folds in on itself.
Name of finalist: Racso Jugarap
Country/region of entry: Philippines
Name of work: 'Echinoid'
Category: Metal
Materials: Galvanized Iron, gold leaf, resin
Galvanised wires, delicately shaped into wishbones, have been dipped in resin and painstakingly soldered one by one onto a grid to create this gourd-shaped work which takes inspiration from sea urchins. The work has been airbrushed with black and adorned with specks of delicate gold leaf, before being sealed with a final coat of resin that adds lustre and evokes dew drops or fossilised insects encased in amber.
Name of finalist: Hiroshi Kaneyasu
Country/region of entry: Japan
Name of work: 'Unformed outline'
Category: Lacquer
Materials: Urushi lacquer, plaster, hemp
Plaster has been poured onto a bed of clay and glass, and guided by gravity the liquid plaster has deposited into the contours, creating a convex disc. The hardened plaster surface has then been reinforced with linen cloth and layers of red lacquer spread on top, before being sanded and finished with translucent lacquer. Mottled variations in colour across the surface correspond to the varying depths of the lacquer.
Name of finalist: Heechan Kim
Country/region of entry: Republic of Korea
Name of work: '#16'
Category: Wood
Materials: Ash wood, copper wire
This sculptural vessel demonstrates a masterful control of material and is the culmination of the artist’s desire to create a new form. Using traditional wood-bending techniques most often seen in boat-making, thinly planed strips of ash have been soaked in water and manipulated using a hot iron, before being sanded and stitched together with thin copper wire. The evolution of the form is guided by intuition; the result is a unique organic structure with a continuously smooth surface, and channels which flow through to a large central chamber.
Name of finalist: Kira Kim
Country/region of entry: Republic of Korea
Name of work:
Name of work: 'Standing House'
Category: Glass
Materials: Glass, steel
Resting on a bed of nails, 40 pieces of glass of different sizes, shapes and colours have been assembled in a house-like structure. Created using technically challenging kiln casting, the glass has been hand-finished with multiple applications of lacquer, altering its opacity and creating a dynamic interplay between light and dark. This unusual surface treatment also makes the glass appear heavy, as though it is a solid imposing mass.
Created using a combination of woodworking techniques, this work takes the form of a large shell, the shape of which is a subtle nod to the female form. Coopering, an ancient technique used for making barrels, has been used to join bent laminated wood that is constructed from five layers glued together in a vacuum-press system. The work sees the wood pushed to its physical limit and skilfully manipulated to bend against its natural grain. It is finished by sanding and the application of gel varnish to create a smooth surface.
The ancient technique of coiling has been used to slowly build up this volumetric double-walled vessel. Realised on an impressive scale, the work is both powerful and monumental, yet retains a sense of lightness and poise. White liquid slip was sprayed onto the surface and the vessel was then fired at 1250°C. The slip has a higher shrinkage rate than the bare clay underneath, resulting in cracks during firing. The cracks are later soaked with a black glaze, after which the vessel is fired again to subtly articulate the surface.
This organically shaped work innovatively combines two very different glass techniques. Beginning with canework, strands of multi-coloured glass have been carefully encased in a large bubble made of clear glass. After the initial casing has been created, using a daring glassblowing technique, additional hot glass is attached to the outer surface and, as each globule expands with air, the work is transformed into a cluster of bubbles. The resulting structure imparts optical intrigue, acting as a lens that distorts the canework strands below to create a swirl of colour.
This ceramic tapestry has been constructed from thousands of handcrafted clay palm kernel shells, which are woven together using copper wire to resemble sumptuous West African textiles such as Akwete, Aso Oke and Kente. Each shell is bisque-fired, then selectively dipped into ash glazes, before being inlaid with glass from crushed recycled bottles. With the addition of glass, the shells resemble beads historically used as tokens to trade enslaved people, but now considered items of prestige and status in much of West Africa.
Inspired by naturally occurring forms, this table has been created from parallel-strand lumber (PSL), a material made of recycled and compressed wood strands, and moulded into a shape reminiscent of mushrooms. The material has been crafted to give it a dense texture, with an appearance similar to stone, and the work was inspired by Bronze and Iron Age dolmen tombs found in many places across the world including Korea. A coating of transparent pearlescent and green pigments have been sprayed onto the surface. The translucency of this finish allows the underlying texture of the wood to come through, evoking delicate moss.
Thatched roofing has been used in architecture for millennia and this work reappropriates the technique for artistic expression. Created by a master thatcher, the work poetically evokes the memory of wind moving across a rice field and blowing away the morning mist. Specially selected rice straw has been thatched onto a wooden board, interspersed with delicate strands of Japanese pampas grass. It is then cut and finished at an angle using large thatching shears, with the slanted perspective adding to its gentle sense of movement.
This organic malleable structure is created from kraft paper which has been specially treated with methylcellulose and resins to allow flexibility and resistance, and dyed using inks and acrylic paint. The paper was folded and crumpled to create gradient peaks across its surface that can be stretched and manipulated, metamorphising the 2D form into volumetric 3D shapes. Incorporating elements of chance and intuition, the shape can be transformed into an infinite number of forms. This work contrasts a simplicity of concept with structural complexity in an exploration of time, movement and transformation.
This work employs a sculptural approach to textiles and upholstery techniques to explore the significance of the column form, which recurs in architectural traditions across cultures in various guises. Here a totem has been created from repurposed foam mattresses which have been cut into slices and covered with intricate handwoven French linens to create 82 cushions. Each cushion was stacked and then bound together using yarn. By varying the degree of tension in each knot, the compression of the foam is controlled and manipulated.
Created from hand-gathered cedar bark, this asymmetrical sculptural basket explores the interplay between convex and concave. The large-scale basket has been created using thin splints in a time-intensive process, with intuition and precision used to modulate tension throughout the work. Stiff black cane has been randomly interspersed with softer western red cedar to create further contrasts, and the resulting undulating detail running across the surface echoes tidal patterns.
Innovative techniques which disrupt our preconceptions of the properties and behaviours of metal have been used to create this work. The artist has created a new technique based on thermal spraying, an industrial coating process. Melted copper, which in its liquid state is almost uncontrollable, has been sprayed onto a hemisphere-shaped mould. The resulting vessel has a large outer rim and sections have been selectively oxidised using heat. Areas of cracking formed during the cooling process further enhance the form’s planetary likeness and lend a fragile quality which speaks to wider narratives around social and environmental collapse.
This series employs 3D-printed plastic to create kaleidoscopic jewellery. Each individual piece has been created using computer-aided design (CAD), and painted with acrylic in oranges, yellows and greens to mimic the appearance of found objects which have been weathered and bleached by the sun. Assembled, moulded and surface-treated by hand, the works appear to feature an array of faceted and uncut gems, arranged in concentric circles, despite being crafted from non-precious materials.
Straw weaving and plaiting techniques from the Korean Joseon Dynasty have been reinterpreted in leather to create this poised box that contrasts rough and smooth in a complex interplay of textures. Supple vegetable-tanned leather has been soaked, twisted to create multiple strands, then delicately woven to form an intricate base and lid with a timeless quality. The work emphasizes the importance of harmony, and embodies an attitude seeking inner balance and centring in a rapidly changing world. While each individual strand is fragile, when woven together they become strong and resilient. Wrinkles and unevenness in texture, usually viewed as flaws, are instead celebrated as a testament to the natural origins of the leather.
Jury:
-Naoto Fukasawa, Designer and Director of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum, Tokyo.
- Jonathan Anderson, LOEWE Creative Director.
- Olivier Gabet, Director of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.
- Genta Ishizuka, winner of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize third edition.
- Hongnam Kim, President of the National Trust of Korea. - Enrique Loewe, LOEWE FOUNDATION Honorary President.
- Wolfgang Lösche, Head of Exhibition and Fairs at the Chamber of Skilled Trades, Munich.
- Wang Shu, Architect and Pritzker Prize jury member.
- Deyan Sudjic, essayist and Director Emeritus of the Design Museum, London.
- Benedetta Tagliabue, architect and RIBA Stirling Prize winner.
- Anatxu Zabalbeascoa (Chairwoman), architecture and design correspondent for El País.
Expert Panel:
- Paula Aza, LOEWE Director of Architecture and Visual Merchandising.
- Antonia Boström, Director of Collections at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
- Hyeyeoung Cho, Secretary General at the Korea Craft and Design Foundation.
- Sara Flynn, ceramist and finalist of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2017.
- Koichi Io, metal artist and finalist of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2019.
- Krzysztof Lukasik, LOEWE accessories designer.
- Rodman Primack, Global Ambassador for Design Miami.
- Ramón Puig Cuyàs, jewellery artist.
- Sylvie Vandenhoucke, glass artist and finalist of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2017.
- Anatxu Zabalbeascoa (Executive Secretary), architecture and design correspondent for El País.
