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Ceramics & Glass (MA)

Freyja Dorren

Freyja has started her journey into Ceramics after coming from a background in Textile Print Design graduating from Central Saint Martins in 2021. After gaining experience within the print sector, working for designers such as Zandra Rhodes, she wanted to explore other pathways of design. 

Born and raised in Edinburgh and living in London for the past few years, Freyja has always been influenced by the life of cities. Exploring the marriage of old historical aspects of architecture with new and modern developments into our ever-growing cities. Her interest in architecture stems from taking walks through the city of London, discovering old classical buildings, brutalist creations and high-tech features all within a short distance walk from each other. This led her to create work that is a nod to the past and the present, with a graphic style and finish, combining, to some, the undiscerning elements of a city. 

Freyja was the recipient of the Charlotte Fraser Award which allowed her to develop and create work freely. She now looks forward to joining a studio to develop her practice within ceramics, creating her designs into sculptural functional ware.

Degree Details

School of Arts & HumanitiesCeramics & Glass (MA)RCA2023 at Battersea and Kensington

RCA Battersea, Woo Building, First and third floors

Artist pictured holding a sculptural piece

Within Freyja's creative practice it is beneficial to understand a brief sense of the world that surrounds us, enriching a practice that naturally evolves whilst considering contextualisation of design. 


In relation to her own practice she finds it important to place relevance on the past and present of our environments we locate ourselves within, specifically the ‘ever-evolving’ city. As technology and design is enhanced and rapidly developed how do we still pay homage to what has come before? What would the world we live in entail if we charged forward without looking back? When placing this in a design context it is important for Freyja as an artist and designer to consider classical design elements from our past.

 

Freyja takes a large amount of inspiration from the city, immersing herself in the rich history and observing the natural diversity of a cityscape, highlighting the proximity of old historic beside new and contemporary, specifically within architecture. She enjoys the storytelling nature of a walk through the city, questioning what we may pass and easily dismiss on our everyday commute, beginning to encounter the captivating blend of high-tech and brutalist architecture, co-existing harmoniously with traditional buildings that have stood unwavering, preserving their authentic character and design through the years. 


Each piece she has created is influenced by interior detailing, deriving from places such as the V&A, and other historic landmarks within London. Freyja's textile print background enables her to transform the tactile surface to create a unique interwoven surface, giving a current relevance to the object, bringing a contemporary twist to each landmark detail, magnifying repetition and significance of history when we design.

two sculptural vessels places in-front of a concrete wall, one vessel is green and one metallic and shiny
Earthenware Ceramic with Glaze / Left : 50cm Height x 35 cm Width Right : 54 cm Height x 30cm Width
collection of ceramic sculptures on the thames river bank
two sculptures pictured in a street outdoor setting, one glazed green one metallic
'Watering Hole' / 'Projection'
close up of two sculptures pictured in a street outdoor setting, one glazed green one metallic
Earthenware Glazed Ceramic
a patterned green glazed ceramic placed on a concrete paved floor outside

The Anatomy of a City

This collection is influenced by the varying culture of design within cities, specifically within architecture, exploring the marriage between historic traditional references alongside current and future design.

Each reference noted within my collection is extracted from walks through the city, documenting what I often pass on my daily commute through London. Collecting image data of small details such as tube station stairs, engraved door transoms, bricks formations, industrial ducts and mechanisms. Utilising all of these aspects of old and new to create 'The Anatomy of a City' capturing my view of the city of London in a sculptural time standstill.

Series of sculptures scattered on a paved pathway.
Patterned metallic ceramic sculpture in front of concrete wall
'Projection'Earthenware Ceramic with Metallic Glaze / Dimensions : 54cm Height x 30cm Width.
Patterned black clay ceramic washed with a white glaze pictured in front of a concrete wall
'Dwelling'Earthenware Black Clay Washed with a White Glaze / Dimensions : 50cm Height x 35cm Width
Close up of green glazed patterned ceramic
'Watering Hole' / Detail
two sculptures pictured in a street outdoor setting, one glazed green one metallic
close up detail of patterned ceramic, black clay washed with a white glaze.
'Dwelling' / Detail
detail photo of green glazed patterned sculpture with black clay sculpture in background
'Dwelling' / 'Watering Hole' Detail