Simone Bodmer-Turner is a California-born, Brooklyn-based ceramicist who creates ceramic sculptures and vessels using traditional methods such as hand-building using coils and slump molds exclusively―rather than a wheel―then slip casts these original forms. Turner draws on her time studying sculpture in Mexico and Japan, combining ancient techniques and technicality to render her modern forms. In Japan, the artist worked with women in Atzompa who, for generations, worked with and fired clay in outdoor wood kilns. Turner’s pieces are most often in neutral tones with shapes that are both biomorphic and architectural, inspired by the human body and the organic movement found in the natural world. As such, the artist intentionally leaves irregularities, indents, and fingerprints as evidence of the human hands that create each piece. Her work is thought to be inspired by things such as the oval shapes of paper lanterns and mid-century lighting, and the arching neck of water containers from the pre-Columbian era.
Today,Turner runs Simone Bodmer-Turner Studio LLC, a ceramic sculpture and design studio based in New York, composed of two complementary bodies of work: the permanent collection of vessels, designed in 2018 and produced in the Brooklyn studio, which is a collectible line of vases designed for minimal floral arranging or to stand on their own as sculptural objects; and the body of clay sculpture, which is the artist’s personal practice. Scroll through for a closer look at the ceramic sculptures of Simone Bodmer-Turner.
SHOP
HANDMADE SINGLE STEM CLAY VASE WITH A SATIN WHITE PORCELAIN SLIP FINISH. INTENDED FOR ONE STEM, OR A FEW, TO BE THREADED THROUGH THE TOP OF THE ARCH AND INTO THE BELLY. DIMENSIONS: 5″ X 5″ X 17″ APPROX. CERAMIC. MADE IN U.S. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS VESSEL IS HANDMADE, AND VARIATIONS MAKE EACH PIECE UNIQUE.
HANDMADE MULTI-STEM PARISIAN VESSEL IN A CREAMY GLAZE WITH A SATIN, RUSTIC FINISH. SCULPTED WITH A ROUNDED BODY. DIMENSIONS: DIMENSIONS 9″ X 9″ X 7″ APPROX. CERAMIC. MADE IN THE U.S. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS VESSEL IS HANDMADE, AND VARIATIONS MAKE EACH PIECE UNIQUE.
INFLUENCES
Savin Couëlle’s Villa dei Due Mari, Sardinia
Jean Arp
“Excited to finally share our project of the last 4 months: a self-education on how to sculpt on an architectural scale a la great inspirations of mine: Valentine Schlegel and Savin Couëlle. The completion of this buildout is the first step in transitioning the studio into a partial showroom, which will be open for appointments this September. Looking forward to presenting the 2020 Permanent Collection, new sculptural works, and some exciting multidisciplinary 2021 collaborations in this space.”
Savin Couëlle
Valentine Schlegel (read more about her here)
Valentine Schlegel
The Vence Sconce and Scalloped Table as seen in the February issue of WSJ magazine
AT THE STUDIO
AT HOME
Intellectual, minimalist artist Simone Bodmer-Turner draws on inspiration gleaned during her travels in Japan to create this white ceramic Aortic vessel. It’s handcrafted in Brooklyn to a smooth silhouette inspired by the oval shapes of paper lanterns and mid-century lighting. Fill it with dried flowers, candles or simply place it alone on your mantelpiece as a pleasing focal point.
