Astrid Specht Seeberg
F. 1999
My workshop is located in Nordhavnen. Where there is a lot of construction work. Which gives the workshop an energy. One day a building outside the window collapses and the next a new one rises. I work in an old machine hall that has been converted into a studio. At some point I know that the place is going to be razed to the ground, just as I can see it happening outside the window. That's how it is for many artists in Copenhagen. We don't really know how long we can be here. So even though I feel incredibly free here in the workshop, the surroundings also give a sense of urgency and speed.
In the workshop I need space, freedom and alone time. Actually I can be a bit of a recluse and often work at night. My workshop should preferably be raw. The ceilings are very high here, which gives the atmosphere of creating in a church, and at the same time there is a very industrial atmosphere, which creates an exciting clash. There is no sink, no drain. And in general I use very few tools to create my art: a stick, a table, a bucket of water, a plasterboard, an oven, easels and a loom for larger works. The simplicity of the workshop and my process gives me freedom.
I used to be a contractor and did concrete work and finishing on buildings. In that work, I found out that I really like big arm movements and a raw environment with concrete floors, buckets, dust, industrial shelves. It opens up the possibility of thinking more practically than detail-oriented. Because my workshop is large, I also think in terms of larger works. These can be sculptures the size of my own body. And I think that if I were sitting in a small basement of 12 m², I would make more miniatures. It actually scales up my ceramics when I have these surroundings.
My workshop has a living room, an office, and a workshop, and it's a pretty nice layout. That way I can draw in one room, work on the dustier stuff in another, and lie down and dream and read in another while looking out at the water in Nordhavnen. I have quite a few books that I look through. My boyfriend is an antiquarian and often has books that I find and take to the workshop. My workshop is actually a pretty dreamy place, with a lovely atmosphere floating around in there.
As I said, I use few tools, but it often happens that I go looking for materials in nature to make surfaces in my works. It can be bark, which I use to make horns for a sculpture, or stones that I chop into the clay. Because it is quite raw here, I can also do experiments that might be perceived as disgusting in an ordinary farm in Copenhagen. Like when I experiment with fish skulls from an anglerfish and can make casts of them.
My workshop and my work process are also quite affected by the weather. It can get really cold in the workshop. So in the winter I work at a high pace between the rooms to keep warm and have a pretty intense work rhythm when the kiln is on. I often have seven works going at once, and I also reuse the clay when I'm not satisfied, so there is very little waste in my process. One of the things I love about working with clay is that it is versatile, that it can go through many stages several times. It makes it incredibly lively to work with. When I've had very intense work periods, I get incredibly tired, and then I use the workshop more recreationally and spend more time in the reading room, where I relax, draw, think.