Photo by Chikako Harada
Caroline Slotte (b. 1975, Helsinki, Finland) excavates antique plates and china tableware, subtracting matter to render intricate, sandblasted lines and ghostly tracings. Her delicate yet densely-layered patterns interrupt the material coherence of these common objects, revealing moments of absence, ambiguity, and blankness. These acts of redaction underscore the curious nature of mass-produced decorative objects; by taking away layers of glaze and clay, Slotte draws our attention to their stylized forms and materiality, as in Delftware ceramics with their familiar yet distant landscapes. Each of her scenes, as though sculpted by erosion, becomes a uniquely altered variation on the theme. In doing so, her artworks broaden our attention to address questions of cultural association, material memory, and the inevitable losses and transformations of time.
Slotte is a member of the Arabia Art Department Society in Helsinki, Finland, where she maintains a studio. She has exhibited widely in exhibitions at the Everson Museum, the Espoo Museum of Modern Art, the XXII Triennale di Milano, and the Cheongju International Craft Biennale in South Korea. Her work is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and the Museum of Decorative Arts in Oslo. She graduated from the department of ceramics and glass at Designskolen Kolding in 1998 and received an MA and PhD in ceramic art from the Bergen Academy of Art and Design.
CAROLINE SLOTTE
b. 1975, Finland
EDUCATION
2011
PhD, Bergen Academy of Art and Design, Department of Ceramic Art, Bergen, Norway
2003
MA, Bergen Academy of Art and Design, Department of Ceramic Art, Bergen, Norway
1998
BA, Design School Kolding, Department of Ceramics and Glass, Kolding, Denmark
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023
There Is Constantly Something Happening, Gallery Format, Oslo, Norway
There Is Constantly Something Happening, Peach Corner, Copenhagen, Denmark
2018
Gallery Format, Oslo, Norway
2016
Pages, Konsthantverkarna, Stockholm, Sweden
2014
Caroline Slotte, Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo, Norway
2010
Going Blank Again, Gallery s.e., Bergen, Norway
2009
Biennale Exhibition, Porsgrunn Art Society, Porsgrunn, Norway
2007
Beyond Blue Skies, Arabia Museum Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2006
On Grandmother’s Porch, Sinne Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2003
Re: presentations, Gallery Artisaani, Helsinki, Finland
2001
Multiple Me, Gallery Artisaani, Helsinki, Finland
2000
Terra Fragilis (Fragile Earth), Gallery Septaria, Helsinki, Finland
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025
One Way or Another, HB381, New York, NY (Upcoming)
Poetry of the Woods: The Call of the Wild, Køppe Contemporary Objects, Bornholm, Denmark
2023
Life Cycles: The Materials of Contemporary Design, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Pohjoista Leveyttä / Nordlig Latitud, Design LAB Galleri, Helsinki, Finland
Sustainable Ceramics, Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands
2021
Särkyvää: Ceramics Facing the New, Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo, Finland
2020-21
Broken Nature, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
2020
Miniatyr (Miniature), Lokal, Helsinki, Finland
2019-20
Earth Piece, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY
2019
Broken Nature: Design Takes on Human Survival, XXII Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy
Helsinki Fat Clay, Blås & Knåda, Stockholm, Sweden
Keep Your Garden Alive, The Finnish Cultural Institute, Paris, France and Spazio Nobile, Brussels, Belgium
2018
Hjemmets Skatter (Home Treasures), Blaafarveværket, Modum, Norway
Revive, Remix, Respond: Contemporary Ceramic Artists, The Frick Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
2017-18
The Women, Ferrin Contemporary, North Adams, MA
2017
Oi Suomi, Katso (Oh Finland, Look), Lokal, Helsinki, Finland
Visioning Future through Craft and Design: Cheongju International Craft Biennale, Cheongju, South Korea
2016
At Your Service, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, TX
Re: Reanimate, Repair, Mend, and Meld, Ferrin Contemporary, North Adams, MA
2015
Drawing, National Glass Centre, Sunderland, UK
My Blue China!, Bernardaud Foundation, Limoges, France
Zwinger und Ich (Zwinger and I), Bomuldsfabrikken Kunsthall, Arendal, Norway
2014-15
Transformator (Transformer), Bomuldsfabrikken Kunsthall, Arendal, Norway;
Hydrogenfabrikken Gallery, Fredrikstad, Norway
2014
At Your Service, Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA
Ceramics and Space, Design Museum, Helsinki, Finland
Helsinki Fat Clay, Arabia Museum Gallery, Helsinki, Finland; Galerie Marianne Heller, Heidelberg, Germany
2013
Horizon, The Museum of Decorative Arts, Oslo, Norway
New Blue and White, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Tendencies — Tenderness, Galleri F15, Moss, Norway
Vociferous Void, The British Ceramics Biennial, Spode Factory, Stoke-on-Trent, UK
2012
Conceptual Ceramics, Vendsyssel Museum of Art, Hjørring, Denmark
Helsinki Fat Clay, Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche, Faenza, Italy; Galleria Officine Saffi, Milan, Italy
Making Knowledge, Gustavsbergs Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden
2011-12
The Tool at Hand, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI; The Museum of
Contemporary Craft, Portland, OR; The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, TX; and the Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA
Thing Tang Trash, The West Norway Museum of Decorative Art, Bergen, Norway
2011
Between Tradition and Future: Cheongju International Craft Biennale, Cheongju, South Korea
Blue, Flow Gallery, London, UK
2010
Currency: Think Tank—A European Initiative for the Applied Arts, Kammerhof Museum, Gmunden, Austria
Gl’amour, Oulu Museum of Art, Oulu, Finland
Korero: Taiwan Ceramics Biennale, Taipei County Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taiwan
Le Cru et le Cuit (The Raw and the Cooked), Galerie Favardin & de Verneuil, Paris, France
Modus Operandi, Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum, Trondheim, Norway
2009
Object Factory: The Art of Industrial Ceramics, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY
Still, Galerie Sofie Lachaert, Tielrode, Belgium
2008
Collect: The International Art Fair for Contemporary Objects with Gallery Norsu, The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
Otto, Vantaa Art Museum, Vantaa, Finland
2007
Present, Gallery Bomuldsfabriken, Arendal, Norway
Tendenser (Trends), Gallery F15, Moss, Norway
2006
Languages: Think Tank—A European Initiative for the Applied Arts, Designmuseum Danmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
PUBLIC COMMISSIONS AND COLLABORATIONS
2025
Public Art Commission for the Arabia135 Block, Helsinki; Collaborative project with Arabia Art Department Society
2018
Public Art Commission in Collaboration with Architect Ruusa Viljanen Rossi, Kvarteret Victoria, Helsinki, Finland
2013-19
Founding Member of the Network for Nordic Contemporary Ceramics
2012-13
Invited Participant in Topographies of the Obsolete: Exploring the Site Specific and Associated Histories of Post-Industry, Bergen Academy of Art and Design, Bergen, Norway
DESIGN PROJECTS
2012
Ostindia Floris, Rörstrand, Sweden
AWARDS AND GRANTS
Arabia Art Department Society (Artist-in-Residence)
Arts Council of Uusimaa
Arts Promotion Centre Finland
City of Helsinki, Arts and Culture Grant
Finnish Cultural Institute in New York (Artist-in-Residence)
Frame
Konstsamfundet, Project Grant
Letterstedt Society
Ornamo Art and Design Finland
Sleipnir Travel Grant
Svensk-Österbottniska Samfundet
The Finnish Cultural Foundation
The Stina Krook Foundation
The Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland
MEMBERSHIPS
Arabia Art Department Society
Association of Finnish Sculptors
The Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, Member of the Delegation
COLLECTIONS
Ariana Museum, Geneva, Switzerland
Craft Museum of Finland, Jyväskylä, Finland
Design Museum, Helsinki, Finland
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY
Manchester Metropolitan University Special Collections, Manchester, UK
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway
Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Sweden
National Museum of Decorative Arts, Trondheim, Norway
Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands
Röhsska Museum, Gothenburg, Sweden
Sørlandet Art Collection, Kristiansand, Norway
The Finnish Art Society, Helsinki, Finland
The Museum of Decorative Arts, Oslo, Norway
The Pro Artibus Foundation, Ekenäs, Finland
The State Art Collection, Finland
The National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland
The West Norway Museum of Decorative Art, Bergen, Norway
University of Bergen Collection (Faculty of Fine Art, Music, and Design), Bergen, Norway
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
