The New Ceramics Award 2023

It’s always a joy to take part in the International Ceramic Days in Oldenburg but this year was very special for me! Let me share what made 2023 so very unique…

Every year there’s an exposition at the Oldenburg Schloss, called ‘Brandnew’. All the participating ceramists are invited to display one of their new works in the amazing historical hall. It’s always an impressive view to see all these wonderful pieces of art together, showing the diversity and endless possibilities of ceramics.

You might wonder which work I’ve presented. Well it was the combination of these 2 pieces, telling some Stories of the Forest.

On Saturday evening, when the market is finished, there’s always an award ceremony before we enjoy dinner and time together as ceramists. First there’s the Detlef-Schmidt-Wilkens award in 3 categories and the the award for the favourite ceramist chosen by the public.

At the end it’s time for the main prize; the award for NEW CERAMICS. I was selected as one of the nominees and that was such a happy surprise. So you can imagine that I felt completely overwhelmed when I heard that I was the winner of this great award. I just couldn’t believe it!

This is what the jury said:

"She creates botanical worlds out of clay: the filigree, finely crafted plants, ferns or even mushrooms are sheltered under glass covers and in boxes. Even though they remain monochrome white, they seem to be botanically identifiable in their fragile precision.

The objects force the viewer to look closely in order to discover the beauty, but also the vulnerability of nature. They are imbued with an almost romantic poetics that seems reminiscent of times gone by. This year, the jury is awarding a prize for the narrative power and independent visual language of a ceramic work.

We are pleased to award this year's NEW CERAMICS prize to the Belgian ceramicist Nausika Raes."

I couldn’t be more happier with this description of my work! It was such an honour to receive this award. Next year I will have my first solo exposition in one of the big historical halls of this Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte Oldenburg. I’ll also get the opportunity to travel abroad to an international ceramics study location.

It was just an incredible experience and I want to give huge thanks to the wonderful team of Werkschule Oldenburg to organise this event.

The story of a notebook

Stories of the Forest