KUBAPARIS ATELIER hap ceramics / Maxi Hoffmann

KUBAPARIS ATELIER presents artists and their ateliers from all over the globe.This time you will get a glimpse into the world of ceramist Maxi Hoffmann / hap ceramics.

Education: Universität Graz, Universiteit van Amsterdam

Current location: Düsseldorf / Berlin

A work of yours that you particularly like and why?
At the moment I really like the lunar side table. The crater surface emerges through gases that the glaze develops during the firing that goes up to 1230 degrees. So the glaze boils up, forms big bubbles and when cooling down these small and big craters remain. It seems like a very thick skin around the clay body that can be up to 4 cm thick. People hardly recognize this texture as a glaze or ceramic piece and are fascinated by it. I work with this glaze already for a few years - it’s always a coincidence how the bubbles are formed among the body. The combination of this glaze and the form do not adapt to the function. Meaning that it is not a table which is very convenient to use. Putting a glass of red wine on the wobbly surface needs to be a conscious movement. I like this idea and the sculptural character of it.

What is your favorite part of your job?
Opening the kiln! After I’ve spend so much time with a piece, I’m very excited to see how it came out in the end. With the glaze you never really know. There is always something new, depending on the thickness of the glaze, how well the glaze was stirred or maybe the origin of the glaze components changed, where it was placed in the oven as even little temperature differences can have an immense impact. So every time it’s a little surprise with new things happening. I try to learn from accidents or new things that are happening and therewith further develop glazes over years.

What makes something worth making?
As long as people are fascinated or moved by an object, it’s a sign to me that it’s worth making it.

From which artist would you like to own a work?
What a hard question! I’d like to own art pieces of so many great and befriended artists. At the weekend I talked to Daniel Hölzl. I really like his work and would like to own piece of his one day. He explores the cyclical nature of matter and mostly uses recycled materials. Daniel often creates site-specific installations that deal with temporality and notions of transience. We’re discussing a deal to swap our work - I hope it goes through.

Which art movement has inspired you the most so far?
Contemporary Art, I mean the art of my generation. Especially the intense exchange and all the talks with my befriended artists in Düsseldorf and Berlin.

Website: www.hap-ceramics.com

Instagram: @hapceramics

Photography credit: Patricia Ekkert

© 2023 Maxi Hoffmann

Courtesy: The Artist