Isak Isaksson – A Short Biography
Isak Isaksson was born in 1949 in Östersund in Sweden. He fell in love with the turntable, clay, and glazes during his adolescence. Through hard work and experimentation, he became a self-educated and freestanding potter of the highest quality. His studio moved around over the years: Västerås, Gotland, Stockholm, Nacka, and finally Bergshamra.
| "I love the classic shape of vases with necks like Vivaldi’s flute tones." |
Isak during the 1990s with a majestic art piece
Vase with crystalline glaze colored by copper carbonate
The Artistic Expression
Isak’s artistry is strongly associated with high fired stoneware and porcelain. The pottery is often thrown into shapes originating from Classical antiquity. The numerous glazes are playful and multifaceted. His artistic hallmark is crystalline glazes where large macro crystals create dramatic effects.
| "I can stay up all night with a loupe and enjoy the beauty of the crystals." |
Bowl with crystalline glaze colored by cobalt oxide
Close-up of crystalline glaze colored by cobalt oxide
The ”Impossible” Red Gold
Isak Isaksson’s most acknowledged glaze is the reduction fired red crystalline glaze. It was developed over eight years through thousands of firings, and with the help of a scanning electron microscope. Many considered the crimson glaze with its striking macro crystals an impossibility, but Isaksson proved that this bumblebee could sure fly under the right conditions.
| "It was an asset for me that I am self-educated. I didn’t know what couldn’t be done. I had many failures but in the end also pioneering success." |
Vase with reduction fired red crystalline glaze
Isak at the turntable in the 2000s
East Asian Influence and Success
Another of Isaac's ceramic specialties is chawan - a traditional bowl used in tea ceremonies in East Asia. He was awarded the 1994 ”Sen Sōshitsu Prize” at the Tankosha Biennale in Kyoto for this type of bowl. The winning piece was a delicate chawan with lovely reduction fired red-gray crystal glaze.
| "A bowl should be friendly to the hand and also play a function. This creates the personal relationship with the object." |
Gift from Sen Sōshitsu XV at the prize ceremony in 1994
Exhibition catalog with the winner contribution for the "Sen Sōshitsu Prize" in 1994
A Master of Pottery
In 2019, Isak Isaksson was i awarded the title of Certified Ceramic Master - the highest recognition for potters in Sweden. Isak is now represented at the Swedish National Museum of Art and Design. In his current studio in Bergshamra north of Stockholm, ceramic creation continues almost every day. New ovens are being built, new forms are tested, and new glazes are mixed. An artist does not retire!
| "Each day, new ideas await me." |
Isak in the Bergshamra studio in 2018
Apples, vases, and bowls lined up on the edge of one of many ovens
