Everaet, Mieke

Mieke Everaet was born in Asse-Brabant (BE) in 1963. Between 1979 and 1982, she trained at the evening school of the Academy of Fine Arts in Dendermonde with Lieve de Pelsmaker. From 1981 to 1985, she received her training at the Ceramics Department of the Royal Academy for Fine Arts in Antwerp, under the guidance of Achiel Pauwels and Hugo Rabaey, two well-known ceramists. From 1986 to 1988, she completed her training at the National Higher Institute for Fine Arts in Antwerp with Marcel Mazy and Achiel Pauwels. In 1988, a pottery internship with David Miller. Since 1988, she opened her own studio in Meldert Aalst. Since 1988 lecturer at the Municipal Academy of Fine Arts in Halle, Flanders (BE). Member of IAC in Geneva since 1994. Her thin porcelain objects are carefully built up in moulds. Exhibitions From 1987 onwards Mieke Everaet exhibited her objects in many galleries and museums in different countries : Belgium – The Netherlands – Germany – France – Great Britain – Finland – Greece – Italy – Japan – Korea – China. Works in museums and public collections Ceramic Museum Nyon Switzerland Royal Gallery for Art and History Brussels Municipal Art Museum Kortrijk Design Museum Gent Belgium Württembergisches Landesmuseum Stuttgart Keramion Frechen Germany Museum Saga Japan Boymans Van Beuningen Museum Rotterdam Museum for Ceramic “Sèvres” France Museum Icheon WOCEF Korea Awards ‘86 Prize “Jugend Gestaltet” München; Germany ‘86 Prize for Arts and Crafts Vizo; Belgium ‘87 Prize “Pittsburg” Triennial of small ceramics Zagreb; Croatië ‘89 Honorable Mention Mino; Japan ‘92 Prize “Pro Novio Duno”, Triennial of Porcelain Nyon; Switzerland ‘95 Member of the International Academy for ceramic, Genève; Switzerland ‘96 Prize “Gestalteten Handwerk”, Bayerischen Staatsregierung, München;Germany ‘97 Bandol; France ‘97 Golden Medal given by the President of the republic Faënza; Italy ‘O2 Selection for Vallauris; France ‘O3 Honorable Mention in the 2nd World Ceramic Biennale; Korea ‘04 Icons of Design in Flanders; Belgium Visit the website : www.mieke-everaet.be mieke.everaet@telenet.be Images : Mieke Everaet (source FutoGp.com); three (3) bowls by Mieke Everaet (source Bloggen.be, photographer Michèle Francken).

The work of Mieke Everaet takes up a special position in the field of porcelain. The degree of technical complexity is extremely high and very time-consuming, and yet the pots are striking in their simplicity and gracefulness, emanating a light and poetic beauty. It is obvious that here is an artist at work with a very clear and personal aim. Despite her young age, Mieke Everaet has participated in an endless number of international exhibitions, is represented in several large museums and has received many awards and prizes in Belgium and abroad. Mieke Everaet’s creations are made from very fine threads of pigmented porcelain. They are not glazed, but ground and polished. This method produces a wafer-thin, but hard and translucent surface with a pattern that can be seen and touched from both sides. Whereas the earlier bowl-shaped pieces from Everaet were very colourful and clearly inspired by Mexican and African woven baskets, the later work has become much more stylized. The colour spectrum has been reduced to white, grey and black, whereas the shape takes a greater predominance. Lately, Everaet has created some wonderful asymmetric double-shaped pots. However frail and brittle they may look, they are also evidence of a strong personal vision and a rich and pure personality (text PulsCeramics.com).

Thormann, Olaf, Gefäss / Skulptur – Vessel / Sculpture, Ceramics since 1946 in Grassi Museum of Applied Art, Leipzig, 2013.