Beautiful craftsmanship between nature and culture

Susanne Bauer

White ball vases with silver dots hang from the ceiling. Porcelain cups with bends stand on the shelf. Below them, brooches, pendants and rings painted in pastel colours are on display. All unique pieces made from the white gold. Susanne Bauer has set up her porcelain studio in the idyllically situated moated castle of Klaffenbach. She opened the doors for the first time ten years ago and has shown with many ideas what can be made from this material. We spoke to the Chemnitz maker about her work.

What is so special about porcelain?
Susanne Bauer: It is a very difficult material. It has completely different properties to clay. It's considered to be a bitch. (laughs) If you treat the material incorrectly in its raw state and it deforms, the deformation comes back after firing, even though you don't want it to.

Is that why the cup is bent?
No. You can't dent porcelain like that. It would crack. I make a mould that has this bend. So it's very deliberately designed that way.

How did you discover this material for yourself?
I always wanted to do something creative. My favourite thing was to make and sell products. I looked around at art colleges and discovered the porcelain workshop at Burg Giebichenstein. Ceramic/glass design is a small, specialised field that is not so well known. Then I realised: that's it. I like the material. It's nice and white and translucent. And you can do a lot with it. Jewellery, vessels, tableware, pictures.

Susanne Bauer studied glass and ceramic design at the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design in Halle. She founded her own porcelain studio in 2007. "However, my studies didn't prepare me well for the bureaucracy that comes with self-employment," she says, looking back. Susanne Bauer knows that not many people set up their own porcelain business. If only because there are specialists for every step and you then have to decide whether modelling or porcelain painting is the right thing to do. Susanne Bauer takes on all the work steps. She has won a prize from the Westerwald Ceramics Museum twice. She travels to trade fairs and exhibitions with her products. Her products are also on sale at the Weise Gallery and the tourist information centre.

How did you come up with the idea of opening your own porcelain studio in Klaffenbach moated castle?
I come from Chemnitz and had just finished my studies. The space here was free. And it worked out wonderfully. The concept of having workshops here was a perfect fit for what I wanted to do. I could identify well with the focus on crafts and design. It's a great ambience, a beautiful environment. I simply feel at home here!

Klaffenbach moated castle is on the outskirts of the city. A good location for a studio?
Super. Nature and culture are closely linked here. There is a high quality of stay here. You can go for a walk in the countryside. At weekends in particular, many people take a trip to the Klaffenbach moated castle. And the exhibitions in the moated castle are always worth seeing. It's quieter during the week. And I need that to make all the things.

What makes a good design for you?
The proportions have to be right. And the surface design has to be coherent. I also like to leave things in between. The raw, untreated also has a great effect and develops into something unique.

Her favourite piece, a white bowl with black and red spots on the inside, has distinctive grooves on the outside. "That's what it looks like when you haven't quite finished it yet." Cups that look like tins still have a seam on purpose. "In the beginning, I sanded away this seam. Now I leave it because it really looks like a tin can," says Susanne Bauer. Her latest development is brooches with small holes that are embroidered with silk threads. "I puzzled over that for a long time," she admits. She also has an entire crockery set with abstract paintings. "I like the beautiful contrasts of light and dark here."

How do you start your work?
I start by collecting ideas and then I begin to work them out. First sketches, then plaster models. I turn the plaster model on a disc or carve it entirely by hand.

And what happens next?
Porcelain is not turned on a potter's wheel like clay. You could do that, but it's very difficult. I use a moulding process because moulding best suits the properties of the material. I create a casting mould from the plaster model. The mould then has to dry. Then it is fired, glazed and decorated.

Is the city of Chemnitz also reflected in your workpieces?
I would like to. I'm currently thinking about which products I could design for Chemnitz.

How do you experience the city?
Something is happening. Sometimes you have to look a little more closely than perhaps in other cities. But there is a lot to discover, especially in the cultural and artistic field, which interests me so much. The openings in the summer, the small galleries, the art museums or alternative cinemas, such as the Metropole or the Clubkino, are important points of reference.

Are you a lone fighter?
Yes, I am a lone fighter. But so is everyone who works in the industry. At the same time, of course, I exchange ideas with colleagues, we meet up at regulars' tables. There is also the Werkkunstmarkt in November, where the porcelain sector is well represented and we all meet up again regularly.

Do you have goals for 2025?
I would like to create lots of new designs. I still have a lot of ideas in my head. The sketchbooks are filling up faster than I can realise things. I just want to try out a lot more things.