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Winner of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2023

After deliberations in New York, the Craft Prize jury has selected Metanoia by Eriko Inazaki as the winner of this year's prize. Inazaki’s intricate ceramic sculpture was created through an accumulation of miniscule forms that coalesce across the work’s crystallised surface. The jury commented on Inazaki’s exceptional take on ornamentation in ceramics, the like of which they have never seen before. The work’s virtuosity creates a spellbinding presence that commands the exhibition space and inspires wonder.

The jury has also awarded two special mentions. One goes to Moe Watanabe for her work Transfer Surface, a walnut bark box that pays tribute to the cyclical turns of the seasons and recalls the ancient Japanese tradition of Ikebana vase making, chosen for its celebration of the sheer materiality of bark, and its use of rivets which references architectural construction and the tradition of mending.

The other special mention goes to Dominique Zinkpè for his work The Watchers. A towering and intricately detailed wall sculpture made of individual wood pieces, the assemblage of small Ibéji figurines evokes traditional Yoruba beliefs connected with multiple births. The jury chose the work for its sculptural reinterpretation of traditional beliefs and its expansion of what contemporary craft can be.

The Finalists of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2023

The 2023 LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize finalists have been selected. The shortlisted works will be shown in New York with the winner announced in spring 2023.

Name of finalist: Ai Shikanji
Country/region of residence: Japan
Name of work: 'Reflection'
Category: Lacquer
Materials: lacquer, thread, washi, gold powder, silver powder, tin powder, grinding powder, gold leaf

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.

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Name of finalist: Aranda\Lasch & Terrol Dew Johnson
Country/region of entry: United States
Name of work: 'Desert Paper 18'
Category: Paper
Materials: copper powder, jute pulp paper

This gathered sumptuous turquoise vessel expands the limits of basket construction and draws on indigenous American traditions. Found materials from the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, including bear grass, yucca, wildflowers, creosote, copper, volcanic rock, and agave have been mixed to create a pulp and draped over stones to create this expressive shape, which conveys the lessons and memories of the land from which it is formed.

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Name of finalist: Claire Lindner
Country/region of entry: France
Name of work: 「Buisson nº2」
Category: Ceramics
Materials: glazed stoneware

Vibrant in both form and colour, this dynamic sculptural object has been crafted using a post-war plaster leaf-mould from Vallauris, a region in France known for its pottery. Slabs of stoneware have been stamped into the mould, carefully twisted and distorted, and then intuitively joined together to create a large unfurling organic shape, a playful nod to 18th century lettuce ware. The work has then been sprayed with fine layers of glaze, using a gradient of colours from green to red, evocative of both vegetation and incandescent flames.

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Name of finalist: Dominique Zinkpè
Country/region of entry: Benin
Name of work: 'The Watchers'
Category: Wood
Materials: wood, acrylic

This assemblage features intricately detailed, wooden statuettes, carved from individual pieces of solid wood and placed within a wooden frame, crafted from an old canoe. Drawing on the Yoruba belief that twins hold special significance and powers, each figurine recalls the tradition of families creating an Ibéji doll when a twin dies in infancy to represent the soul of the deceased in physical form so it can continue to be cared for on earth. Each statuette has been finely carved with individual details, then hand-painted with washes of pink and orange, a subtle yet profound reminder of the uniqueness of every individual.

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Name of finalist: Dong Han
Country/region of entry: Mainland China
Name of work: 'Rebirth'
Category: Furniture
Materials: bronze

This beautiful example of bronze casting uses ancient Chinese techniques to create a sculpture resembling a giant piece of jade. Wood has first been hand-carved into a smooth, organic shape, before being cast in molten bronze. The smooth, highly tactile, surface is decorated with a rich patina that recalls Chinese landscape painting.

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Name of finalist: Giorgi Danibegashvili
Country/region of entry: Georgia
Name of work: 'Naked'
Category: Textiles
Materials: silk, handmade paper

This sculptural object is inspired by the texture and form of trees and explores the unique properties of two different materials: handmade paper and silk fibres. The tension between their material delicacy and the construction of a solid form has been pushed to the extreme through a sensitive negotiation. The object’s lightness is achieved through the suspension of paper fibres in pigmented liquid to create translucent layers that are painstakingly built up. The simple shape and softly undulating surface are contrasted by a surprising use of colour, capturing the light and creating different shades on a velvety surface, reflecting the idea of metamorphosis.

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Name of finalist: Healim Shin
Country/region of entry: Republic of Korea
Name of work: 'As Time Goes Rain Falls - Plane'
Category: Jewellery
Materials: canvas, silver, traditional lacquer, acrylic paint

This set of wearable brooches has been created by furling and rolling cuts of canvas to create layered and intricate pieces. The rolled canvas is treated with lacquer and then repeatedly sanded to create smooth edges before being fixed onto a thin metal plate. The canvas at the centre is left exposed and then painted in thin layers, akin to sediment accumulating and marking the passage of time.

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Name of finalist: Inchin Lee
Country/region of entry: Republic of Korea
Name of work: 'Large Vessel (Faceted)'
Category: Ceramics
Materials: clay

This vessel shows a deep understanding of clay and how it can be manipulated to transform its properties. Drawing on ancient Korean techniques and methods, the vessel has been thrown on the wheel to first create a smooth exterior and then, through a series of precise carvings and cuts, it has been skilfully shaped into a faceted geometric surface. Firing in a wood-fuelled kiln has created different textures across its surface and enhanced the natural colours of the clay to complement the vessel’s sloping planes.

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Name of finalist: Jaiik Lee
Country/region of entry: Republic of Korea
Name of work: 'Transition VII'
Category: Metal
Materials: copper, porcelain color, gold leaf

Based on a traditional Korean moon jar, this voluminous vessel updates the ceramic tradition by transposing it to metalwork. It has been created by spot welding sheets of copper plate, which have then been coated with porcelain to create a richly coloured surface. Its undulating organic form creates a sense of buckling and swelling, as though the vessel is expanding. Welding tracks on the surface reveal, the repeated actions that have led to the object’s creation.

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Name of finalist: Jana Visser
Country/region of entry: South Africa
Name of work: 'In the Almost'
Category: Textil
Materials: linen, paper and mohair yarn with viscose and monofilament.

The cyclical passage of breath through the body and its relationship to the rhythmic, repetitive, gestures of weaving were the inspiration behind this textile wall-hanging. Partly woven on an industrial jacquard loom, the work uses both hand techniques and mechanical processes. Once removed from the loom, the textile has been hand manipulated, unravelled and reworked in places to create variation of texture and to expose the underlying structure of the work, as well as the relationship and tension between warp and weft.

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Name of finalist: Johannes Kuhnen
Country/region of residence: Australia
Name of work: 'Vessel - Red Centre'
Category: Metal
Materials: titanium, anodised aluminium, monel, stainless steel

This striking, large metal vessel combines an anodised aluminium baseplate with titanium buttress blades at near random angles, supporting thin titanium walls. The interior is rendered in luminous pink and the angularity of the work leads the vessel walls to change in colour — inspired by the changing colour of the surface of Uluru rock in central Australia at different points in the day.

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Name of finalist: Kaori Juzu
Country/region of entry: Denmark
Name of work: '108 POINTS OF VIEW'
Category: Enamelwork
Materials: enamel, glass, copper, 18kt gold, patinated Shakudo, bi-metal

108 small scale sculptures of wearable jewellery are presented in this tableau which showcases a variety of enamelling techniques. The work is inspired by the significance of the number 108 in Buddhism, with temples in China and Japan tolling their bells 108 times at midnight on New Year’s Eve as a ritual of purification. The pieces of jewellery are created from remnants of previous projects and take simple abstract forms. In contrast to traditional enamelling techniques, here the melting process has been disrupted to create areas of high contrast across the surfaces.

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Name of finalist: Keeryong Choi
Country/region of entry: United Kingdom
Name of work: 'Daam Dah 2022'
Category: Glass
Materials: glass and 23.5 ct gold

These opaque glass vessels compound expectations by combining both Korean and British sensibilities, resulting in a work that feels familiar yet refuses to be placed. Choi created the work to speak to his experience of moving from Korea to the UK, his nostalgia for home and to challenge the notion of cultural authenticity. The vessels’ form was created using 3D modelling software and 3D printing. By using small frit size glass and skipping bubble soaking during the firing process, Choi deliberately created small cavities on the surface, often regarded as an imperfection in glass making. These were then inlaid with gold leaf, contrasting with the vessels’ glossy surface, to evoke a celestial starry sky and to celebrate the imperfections and beauty of these unique objects.

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Name of finalist: Kenji Honma
Country/region of entry: Japan
Name of work: 'Contours of Past 2022'
Category: Wood
Materials: Japanese lacquer tree wood, lacquer (Urushi), polishing powder

Balancing age-old Japanese traditions with new self-taught techniques, this unique vessel is created using salvaged wood from an ancient Japanese lacquer tree. The trunk has been hollowed out and the base fitted with a bottom plate. Inside, the surface has been skilfully worked to create a smooth finish, whereas the outside has been meticulously shaped, but still retains the original characteristics and marks of the bark, evidence of the harsh winters the tree endured during its lifetime. Hand-harvested lacquer, collected during a brief window between the summer and autumn, has been applied to its surface.

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Name of finalist: Kristin Mckirdy
Country/region of entry: France
Name of work: 'Untitled, 2018'
Category: Ceramics
Materials: earthenware clay, glaze, terra sigillata

Comprising two parts, this formal yet conceptual work celebrates the possibilities of ceramic surfaces and is inspired by both natural and man-made forms. Deliberately ambiguous, its shape could be a reference to pieces of a children’s game, or a sign of warning, reminiscent of a buoy or explosive device. The work is constructed using a variety of techniques, from wheel-throwing to coil-building and the surfaces are each given a different finish. The rough pattern-burnished exterior contrasts with the smooth satin and glazed surfaces in black and red, which have been finished with terra sigillata or ceramic glazes and fired in an electric kiln, further underscoring the unsettling suggestion of tension between safety, danger and destruction in the work.

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Name of finalist: Kyouhong Lee
Country/region of entry: Republic of Korea
Name of work: 'Trace of Time'
Category: Glass
Materials: glass, traditional lacquer, gold leaf

This highly experimental work combines materials in unexpected ways. Inspired by ceramic traditions, here glass has been used as if it was clay. The disc-like form, with a small circular cut out, has been cast in glass and then finished using a traditional ottchil lacquer technique, decorated with gold leaf and then fired in the kiln. The resulting work is a study of mass and volume which can only be achieved by utilising the specific properties of glass.

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Name of finalist: Lene Bødker
Country/region of entry: Denmark
Name of work: 'Worthy; Walking Stone; Slice of Something Bigger'
Category: Glass
Materials: glass

These glass sculptures express a close relationship with nature and reference the interconnectivity between evolution and natural features of the landscape. The works have been created using a lost wax technique and cast with a carefully planned and controlled use of colour to create differing levels of opacity throughout. This manipulation of light is further explored by creating contrasting matt and smooth areas across the surface of the works, by using several different hand finishing techniques including grinding, chiselling and polishing to create a tactile, nodular, texture that demonstrates the artistic possibilities of glass.

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Name of finalist: Liam Lee
Country/region of entry: United States
Name of work: 'Chair 11'
Category: Furniture
Materials: felted merino wool, poplar plywood

Lee’s chair re-envisages the ubiquitous functional object as a fantastical sculptural form. Here the domestic interior is transformed into a microcosm of the natural world, referencing fungi, seeds, coral and biological pathogens. Starting with a simple poplar frame, Lee has harnessed wool needle-felting as a sculptural tool, slowly building the surface of the chair over several months to achieve a rigid, incredibly dense, structure. The striking forms of the work are further enhanced using bold colour, created by hand-dying merino wool. The chair is both functional, yet provocative and strange, unsettling the supposed security of the domestic space.

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Name of finalist: Luz Moreno Pinart
Country/region of entry: Spain
Name of work: 'El Retiro'
Category: Paper
Materials: paper, paint

This meditative work has been created by knotting thin strands of paper, using techniques Moreno Pinart learned during an artist residency in Kyoto. The result is an interconnected web, where each knot represents a moment in her life. The title of the work references the main park in central Madrid, a place for reflection and quiet contemplation. Each paper knot has then been dyed red to denote the significance of the memory, and the long, thin strands of paper connecting them resemble a flower’s stamen, which contains the plant’s pollen, representing life and growth.

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Name of finalist: Mabel Pena
Country/region of entry: Argentina
Name of work: 'Wetlands'
Category: Jewellery
Materials: recycled polyethylene bags, 3D filament, inks

This wearable piece of jewellery explores humanity’s relationship with the natural world and highlights the vital importance of preserving specialised ecosystems. Created using recycled polythene bags which have been manipulated in different ways to create various textures, the work is a scenographic representation of the wetlands in Latin America. The wetlands play an important role in maintaining biodiversity and flood management and the necklace documents their struggle to survive due to human impact.

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Name of finalist: Maina Devi
Country/region of entry: India
Name of work: 'Lehrata-Khet'
Category: Textiles
Materials: wool

This rug revives an ancient, 2,400-year-old carpet making tradition in Rajasthan, which has been replaced by commercial industry. This handwoven rug has been created using over 200,000 asymmetrical Persian knots from hand-spun sheep wool and bamboo-silk. In contrast to commercially produced rugs, it was created without predefined drawings, giving the maker the freedom to express themselves directly on the loom. The work’s title translates to ‘a waving farm’ and this abstract view of the maker’s village and surrounding fields includes delicate details such as motifs of grains and vegetables.

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Name of finalist: Maki Imoto
Country/region of entry: Japan
Name of work: 'Torus of Powdered'
Category: Glass
Materials: powdered glass, piece of transparent glass

This large, yet fragile work explores the limits of glass. Created using a torus shaped plaster mould which has been filled with powdered glass and then fired in the kiln, the resulting work is thin and hollow with areas of cracking, shrinking, and dripping on its surface. These material transformations are a visual trace of heat as it emerges and transforms the glass, a process that must be carefully controlled to prevent the brittle structure from breaking.

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Name of finalist: Moe Watanabe
Country/region of entry: Japan
Name of work: 'Transfer Surface'
Category: Other
Materials: walnut bark

This simple yet powerful box is made from walnut bark, collected from the Tohoku region of Japan. The bark has been stripped and then moulded to create a simple box shape made from one large strip, showing a fantastic understanding and respect of the material in its manipulation. Overlapping at the side, the bark is secured with simple stiches to hold it in place and its shape recalls the Japanese tradition of Ikebana vases. The box’s simplicity of form allows the respect of the material and the direct nature of the wood to come to the fore.

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Name of finalist: Nathalie Doyen
Country/region of entry: Belgium
Name of work: 'Pays Cabi'
Category: Ceramics
Materials: stoneware colored with oxydes and pigments, natural cupules of acorns

This large, globular ceramic work appears at first to be a textile work, created from a patchwork of different materials, with white and red piping to delineate each section. At its centre is stoneware coloured with cobalt oxide and turquoise stain. In a process taking over 5 months to complete, tiny balls of clay have been painstakingly rolled and flattened by hand, then pricked with a needle to produce a textured surface, which conveys a sense of sumptuous tactility akin to velvet.

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Name of finalist: Prue Venables
Country/region of entry: Australia
Name of work: 'Black Triangulated Form'
Category: Ceramics
Materials: Limoges porcelain, black glaze

This hand thrown Limoges porcelain vessel is a beautiful study in space and movement within form. The porcelain’s yielding flexibility has been daringly manipulated with skill and precision to create a gently twisting shape with opposing triangular geometry. The finished work has a sense of harmony, elegance and surprise, and is finished with a rich satin-like black glaze.

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Name of finalist: Shinji Nakaba
Country/region of entry: Japan
Name of work: 'Rose Branch'
Category: Jewellery
Materials: pearl, aluminum, stainless steel

Shards of pearl have been threaded onto a strong stainless-steel wire and then carved, to create the shape of a twisting rose branch, punctuated with aluminium tipped thorns. The pearls selected for the work are of a lower grade than used in standard jewellery practice, yet by carving them and using them as structural components, the unique qualities, strength and ephemeral beauty of the material are showcased.

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Name of finalist: Tanya Aguiñiga
Country/region of entry: United States
Name of work: 'Matriarchal Womb'
Category: Textiles
Materials: cotton, Mexican self-drying terracotta, synthetic hair

This textile work layers materials and methods to express poignant metaphors about family and community. It is a homage to matrilineal support and the tender relationship between Aguiñiga and her daughter. Based on the outline of the two of them, huddled side by side, the work uses a variety of techniques including off-loom weaving, knotting, crochet and knitting as a metaphor for the interconnected non-hierarchical relationships within communities. Sections of the work have been dipped in self-drying terracotta, an important material to cultures of the global south, which forms a rigid but flexible skin around the fibres.

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Name of finalist: Wanbing Huang
Country/region of entry: Mainland China
Name of work: 'The Entrophy Reduction of Hundun'
Category: Textiles
Materials: hemp fibers (China grass cloth), steel

This sophisticated sculptural work uses ramie fibres to create a work on an expressive scale. Inspired by Chinese grass cloth weaving techniques, the egg-shaped hanging installation recalls an ancient Chinese myth that the breaking of Hundun was the origin of the world. Radial circles of fine knitting and weaving are layered to create the intricate inner structure and this delicate use of the material is contrasted with a course dense exterior, which has been created by distressing the ramie fibre.

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Name of finalist: Woosun Cheon
Country/region of entry: Republic of Korea
Name of work: 'Open Vase0622'
Category: Metal
Materials: nickel silver, copper

This modern interpretation of a jar combines a traditional form with contemporary aesthetics to produce an object which straddles the boundary between the functional and decorative. Created from nickel silver wire that has been welded together and soldered with silver in delicate cross sections, each plane overlaps to produce a complex arrangement and is finished by sandblasting and hand sanding to create a smooth finish.

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Jury / Expert Panel 2022

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.