For me, one of the highlights of this year’s 3 Days of Design was joining a workshop hosted by Kristina Dam Studio and Danish artist Katrine Blinkenberg, who have recently teamed up to produce a limited-edition collection of abstract sculptures. Called the ‘Contour’ series, it will be available from January 2024 and consists of organic forms that were initially hand-cast in plaster before being translated into sandstone. The workshop was a chance to have a go at the first part of the process myself, and I loved every minute of it – not only because I got to create a sculpture of my own to take home, but also because I found Katrine’s enthusiasm and her belief that we all have artistic potential to be utterly infectious.
Katrine herself has a fascinating background. A former priest, she now works primarily in plaster and clay, producing her own work as well as running sessions that encourage others to explore their inner creativity. Keen to find out more, I sat down to interview her and it proved to be a very interesting chat. Some of her answers to my questions intrigued me, others surprised me, and all of them made me think and reflect. I hope you find them as thought-provoking and inspiring as I did.
Hi Katrine! Please can you start by telling us a little bit about yourself?
“I have a masters degree in theology and spent 12 years working as a priest in the Danish National Church and as an army chaplain. In Denmark 75% of the population are members of this church, and I’ve spent my entire adult life meeting all kinds of people in all kinds of situations. Baptisms, weddings, confirmations, funerals, teaching and pastoral care were my everyday. For me being a priest was a wonderful job – more than a job. But the working environment is tough – I think due to the way it’s organised – and I found myself being miserable. I wrote about it and drafted a statement that about 10% of my colleagues in Denmark signed. I tried to change things, but when you bury someone every week you know that life is short. And I wanted to be happy, so I had to quit my job. And I did exactly that, without knowing that it would bring me here.”
Have you always been creative?
“That would be an exaggeration! I’ve always written poems and stories, ever since I was a kid. And I’ve always been nerdy about the things that interest me – words, certain things in theology, all kinds of people and stories. But I only began sculpting with clay and plaster last spring, a few weeks after I left my job. Creativity just happened for me and I didn’t know I was capable of working like that.”
Above: Katrine’s pieces ‘Calabash’, ‘Source of the Nile’ and ‘Desert, Infinite End’, styled by Pernille Vest for an exhibition with Sørensen Leather at The Audo
How would you describe your work, and how has it evolved?
“As I’ve only been creating in this way for a little over a year, I think my work is evolving all the time. I love experimenting and trying new things. Personally I’ve evolved quite a bit, and there’s a connection of course. I’ve learned to ask for help. If you can ask for help then the sky is the limit! That’s how I’ve built my new career with workshops, for instance. In February last year I made my first plaster sculptures, and I went to knock on my neighbour’s door. We had only lived in my husband’s vicarage for a few months but I knew that Niels had a workshop in his apartment. So I stood in the hallway with two small sculptures and asked this man if he could please help me mount them. And he did. Now we work together as often as possible. I’ve asked people to help me and a lot of the local people have. Donating egg trays for my first sculptures, helping out with the wine and clay workshops in my container at the harbour, helping me do my finances as I’m not very good at them… And my husband deserves a medal for putting up with me and assisting me! I’m sure that all this help and kindness reflects in my work, as I couldn’t have built anything unless I had the support of a lot of people.”
What inspires you?
“People’s stories and how the new thoughts they evoke can make our minds and souls expand. I think we’re here to help each other and to expand – that’s the best word I can come up with, and we need to expand to live as true as possible. The last year I’ve had a very intense feeling of joy and I don’t think we’ve ever been more happy in our family. That’s not to say that we can’t be sad or that everything is perfect – far from it. But the feeling of freedom and joy is present and this drives me to do new things.”
Above: hand-built ceramic vessels from Katrine’s series ‘Bring Me Water’
Does your work carry any particular meanings?
“The last series I made – different hand-built ceramic vessels – was called ‘Bring Me Water’ and it was about the desert. The desert plays a role in both the Old and New Testaments. It’s not a place you go to of your own free will because it’s dangerous! But we all experience our own personal deserts going through life. And when you look at the series, I want you to think about what you need when you’re there. What is your water? And which vessel do you want this water brought to you in?
“All my work is to do with you, in fact. I think I realised during the pandemic how connected we all are, how much we depend on each other. That we can’t say ‘I don’t care about what happens on the other side of the Earth’. I want us to feel this connection, and I hope that people can merge their own personal stories with my work.”
How did your collaboration with Kristina Dam Studio come about?
“Kristina came to one of the sculpture workshops I give in our home. I didn’t know who she was at the time, but she later told me (and everyone else, so it’s no secret!) that she came because she needed inspiration – not for a project, but just because that source was running dry. Luckily she found it, and she kindly asked me if I wanted to work with her and her team. It’s been like the best playdate ever, and everyone has made a warm impression on me. I think that says a lot about Kristina Dam Studio.”
Above: sculptures from the ‘Contour’ series, created in collaboration with Kristina Dam Studio and available from January 2024
Speaking of your workshops, they focus on encouraging others to uncover their own potential. Do you truly think that everyone has creativity within them?
“If I can do it, everyone can! I want to give people the same joy that I feel, and drag creation out of their hands until there’s a piece in front of them. Not because of the piece itself – although they don’t know that when they come. They think the most important thing they will learn is how to make a sculpture or build in clay. It isn’t. What’s more important is what they learn about themselves during that process. And when you look at how people work, you can say a lot about them. I use methods that are 100 years old and inspired by surrealism, so you need to let go and realise you’re not in control. It’s my job to give people a safe space to do that.”
Above: me at work during the session I attended during 3 Days of Design, and my finished two-sided creation back home in Bristol
And what does the creative process look like for you? Do you go through any particular rituals or stages? And do you need to be in a certain mood or place?
“I work like a surrealist, so I’m inspired by dreams and the subconscious. I also use a method that I call automatic creation. When I worked as a priest, I often used automatic writing – where you set an alarm clock and keep writing without lifting the pen from the paper, no matter what words come out. I really wanted to translate that method into plaster and clay, so often I don’t have an exact plan when I create. It’s all coincidence and flow.”
Do you have any personal favourites from the works you’ve created so far?
“I’ve built a ceramic tombstone for me and my husband, and I did it for two reasons. Firstly, in Denmark almost all tombstones look alike. We wanted something different. But the most important reason is that it’s a memento mori – a reminder that we all die. We want to keep it with us – in our home, at the summerhouse, in the garden, on the balcony – because it’s a reminder to live fully. I want people to choose their tombstone when they’re young and carry it with them. My idea is that people can come and talk to me, tell me about their life and then I can build a stone for them.”
What’s next for you?
“To gather people and teach them, and when the kids are asleep at night to sit in our living room overlooking the harbour and build my own sculptures in clay. I want to work with a lot of different people. And I want to save money to go to Italy and learn how to carve in stone, so that I can build tombstones in ceramic and marble.”
Finally, do you have any advice for others looking to launch their own creative ventures?
“You don’t need a studio. You don’t need expensive tools. All those things are just an excuse for not getting to work. Don’t overthink it. Just do it. And ask your neighbour (and everyone else) for help!”
Thanks Katrine!
See more of Katrine’s beautiful work on her website and Instagram, and find details of her upcoming workshops here.
Images one and 15 by Sarah Marie Winther; images two, five-seven and 14 by Katrine Blinkenberg; images three and four by Jonas Bjerre Poulsen; image 11 by Sebastian Francis Atkins; all other photography by Abi Dare
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