Much of Aneta Regel’s inspiration is drawn from the natural landscapes of her native Poland, such as forests, riverbeds and boulders. She captures the forms, energies and rhythms of these natural features and phenomena in ceramic and stone. Regel is particularly interested in the juxtaposition between natural organic forms and human-made objects and the dramatic friction between them. Poised between abstraction and figuration, her objects take on the moods and characters of living figures. She says: ‘the human body and objects found in nature fascinate me. My work carries anthropomorphic references and autobiographical narratives.’
Untitled reflects Aneta Regel’s practice of producing work in series, with objects having a relationship to the ones created before and after. She often fires and glazes pieces dozens of times to create colour and texture, as the layered clay and glaze crack and stretch around the hand-built form. Occasionally a form will lean or collapse in the kiln. This is an aspect of working with clay that she embraces, enjoying the excitement of opening and unpacking the kiln and being surprised by unexpected outcomes.
The resulting works can congregate in groups, stand alone or sit together in couples like Untitled. Sometimes titles emerge during production, or finished works suggest titles to the artist, other works remain untitled. Aneta Regel’s work may have a semblance of function, with openings suggesting they can act as containers. Once a work is sold, Aneta lets it have a new function or non-function, according to the wishes of the new owner.
