Artist: Johannes Nagel

The perfect storm:

If you are a tornado, what do you aspire to?

Nagels work reminds me of storms. The ones that leave you a bit bruised but with a fresh oxyden. Invigorated. I might as well get that out of the way: I am a big fan. The challenge for me as a maker to write a blurb, is that the knowledge I have about the ceramic material, feels like a disadvantage and makes it rather difficult. When I look at other artists ceramic work, I must admit that there often are details I would have done differently, and needless to say: a lot better. (This is probably a hybris that most artist recognize, to feel as the greatest ever and the next minute like a failure), But not in Nagels case. I am full of admiration. Do not change a thing. I imagine the joy in the process, which only gets amplified in the finished pieces. Nagel manages to combine an unseen freedom and a playfulness, which are very difficult to handle - clay is a wilful material that can take on any given shape, but the difficulties occur when that shape needs to be frozen, well literarily, as the opposite is taking place, fired in extreme heat, and survive that fire. Clay warps and often changes shape in firering process. Johannes knows this and still he challenges gravity and tradition, to an extent where his own desires of shape may just fuck up. This wilful - devil may care - approach invites us into the drama of creation. I believe that the clay plays tricks with him, and he accepts its whims, it is an enlightened conversation with that special friend, whom you really like a lot, but also secretly hate for always wanting to have the last say. Johannes is a greater person, he allows to be sidelined, to be overruled. Maybe that is even his plan. The risk or desire of deformation. For a moment let us not forget the tradition of ceramic history, the discovery of porcelain, the amazement of this white stuff, the sound and the colour palette, in all its extravaganza and extreme luxury before it became a commodity. I am still baffled, porcelain is an impossible clay to work with, believe me, I have tried, and that anybody can master it is above my paygrade. Nagel knows how to make it look seductive, knows how to transgress the desire and go beyond tradition and break the rules to give us these experiences where we feel like we just had our eyes opened for the first time. To see what real beauty looks like. Thank you, Johannes.

Morten Løbner Espersen
March 2026