Markus Böhm ( he )

My work begins with the material: with earth, with its possibilities, and with the transformation that takes place when clay becomes solid like rock through fire. I am fascinated by the endless diversity of clays, by their different properties, and by the way they lead to forms that are accessible, usable, and recognizable to most people.

Vessels.

At their best, vessels exceed their usefulness. They remain close to the hand and to daily life, yet they can also open a view onto something more essential: the conditions that made the work possible. I hope my pots give access to what matters to me — beauty, endurance, liveliness, and warmth.

The marks on my work are not decoration in the usual sense. They are traces of making, firing, handling, and time: simple signs of an extremely complex process. In wood firing especially, flame, ash, salt, and atmosphere become part of the surface. The finished piece carries the memory of these events.

Because vessels are made to be used, they also enter into relationships — with hands, food, tables, and the people gathered around them. In this sense, a pot is never only an object. It can shape attention, slow perception, and become part of a shared sensory experience.

Markus Böhm is a German ceramic artist and master potter based in Alt Gaarz, a village near Lake Müritz in Mecklenburg. Since 1988 he has worked as an independent potter; since 1989 he has run the studio Müritzkeramik together with his wife, Ute Böhm. His practice is centered on wheel-thrown ceramics, crystalline glazes, reduction firing, and wood-fired stoneware, with a particular focus on the relationship between form, surface, material, and fire.Böhm’s work is rooted in a long and hands-on engagement with ceramic technology. He began researching crystalline glazes in the mid-1980s and built his first kiln for wood-fired salt-glazed stoneware in 1987. In 2009 he organized a kiln-building workshop with Australian potter Steve Harrison at Alt Gaarz, resulting in his Bourry-box wood kiln “Dave,” which has since become central to his wood-firing practice.Alongside his studio work, Böhm has been active for many years as an educator, writer, translator, and organizer within the international ceramics community. He organized ceramic symposia in Alt Gaarz, contributed to the book Holzbrandkeramik in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and was part of the organizing team of the first European Woodfire Conference in Germany. He has taught workshops and kiln-building courses in Europe, Australia, and Canada, and has been invited to residencies, firings, and projects at institutions including STURT in Australia, the International Ceramics Studio in Hungary, Guldagergaard in Denmark, and the Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts.His work has received several awards, including prizes at the Rheinsberg Ceramics Market, the Award of the City of Höhr-Grenzhausen, and the Ceramic Award of the City of Bürgel. In recent years, Böhm has also developed ceramic work in close collaboration with chef Felix Schneider and Restaurant etz in Nuremberg, exploring handmade tableware as part of a contemporary culinary experience.