{"id":3965,"date":"2026-01-14T09:49:34","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T16:49:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=3965"},"modified":"2026-01-14T09:49:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T16:49:34","slug":"uncanny-personalities-appear-from-nature-in-malene-hartmann-rasmussens-ceramics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=3965","title":{"rendered":"Uncanny Personalities Appear from Nature in Malene Hartmann Rasmussen\u2019s Ceramics"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Uncanny<\/p>\n

In her uncanny visages and sculptures, Malene Hartmann Rasmussen<\/a> taps the ceramic medium as a form of make-believe. Surreal folkloric creatures<\/a> take on absurd, sometimes cartoonish personalities, assembled from disparate plants and critters or reflecting characterful, mask-like qualities.<\/p>\n

In Rasmussen\u2019s playfully monstrous \u201cEgg-head,\u201d for example, silly antics are equally unsettling\u2014what\u2019s in its mouth? Where is the rest of its body? And \u201cInner Beast #10\u201d gives a disgusted side-eye that\u2019s open to interpretation. What does it find so offensive?<\/p>\n

\"A
\u201cEgg-head\u201d (2025), glazed stoneware, 24-carat gold luster, 37 x 27 x 21 centimeters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By disturbing the boundaries between cuteness and abjection and the playful and unsettling, the artist invokes the power of imagination and the enigmatic atmosphere of fairytales. Her ongoing Trolls <\/em>series combines natural objects like snail shells, eggs, leaves, and flowers into sage mysterious faces that give little indication of whether they\u2019re well-meaning or not.<\/p>\n

Starting tomorrow, find these works alongside paintings James Mortimer<\/a> in the exhibition Brutes <\/em>at James Freeman Gallery<\/a>, which continues through February 14 in London. Explore more on Rasmussen\u2019s Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A ceramic sculpture by Male Hartmann Rasmussen of a \"troll\" face made of pink leaves, shells, worms, and eggs
\u201cTroll #1 Tropic\u00e1lia Series\u201d (2025), glazed earthenware, 50 x 40 x 10 centimeters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
\u201cInner Beast #10\u201d (2023), glazed stoneware, 60 x 37 x 29 centimeters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
\u201cTulpa\u201d (2025), glazed stoneware, 24-carat gold luster, 66 x 43 x 33 centimeters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
\u201cViper Weave #5\u201d (2022), glazed stoneware, 48.5 x 38 x 8 centimeters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
\u201cAngry Eagle\u201d (2025), glazed stoneware, 24-carat gold luster (limited edition, 4 of 10), 20 x 18 x 4 centimeters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member<\/a> today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Uncanny Personalities Appear from Nature in Malene Hartmann Rasmussen\u2019s Ceramics<\/a> appeared first on Colossal<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In her uncanny visages and sculptures, Malene Hartmann Rasmussen taps the ceramic medium as a form of make-believe. Surreal folkloric creatures take on absurd, sometimes cartoonish personalities, assembled from disparate…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3965\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}