“Claassens creates works rooted in bold memories of a Southern African childhood, reflecting a deep spiritual reverence for nature and subtly contrasting it with the delicacy possible in ceramics. Her feminism manifests exquisitely in both her functional and purely sculptural creations. The works conjure whimsy and a playful sense of the magical, inviting the viewer to respond physically to their tactile and transformative qualities.”
— Felicity Simoes
Carina Claassens
Carina Claassens is a South African ceramic artist, curator and educator based in the Achterhoek, the Netherlands.
She grew up on nature reserves in South Africa, including the wilderness surrounding the Blyde River and Bourke’s Luck Potholes and Limpopo. Her childhood and teenage years were spent in close proximity to wild landscapes inhabited by elephants, leopards, hyenas and other wildlife. These experiences continue to shape her relationship with clay, natural materials and the living world.
Claassens studied Fine and Applied Arts at Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, specialising in ceramics, and graduated in 2003. After moving to the Netherlands, she curated exhibitions of contemporary South African art and worked as an artistic director and festival director, promoting cultural exchange between South Africa and the Netherlands.
In 2017, she established Clay Café Nederland. In 2019, she opened her ceramics studio on a farm in the Achterhoek, which has since developed into the Carina Claassens Ceramic Centre.
Her current practice moves between sculptural and functional ceramics. Working intuitively with clay, oxides, sand, volcanic ash and experimental glazes, she explores the body, identity, femininity, resilience and humanity’s relationship with the natural world.