Nani Champy Schott was born in 1959 in Ulm, Germany. A contemporary ceramicist, she currently lives and works in Plaisir, France. Trained at the Freie Kunstschule in Nürtingen and then at the École des Arts Appliqués in Paris, she has been developing an organic and deeply sensitive body of work since the 1980s, rooted in an intimate dialogue with clay. She works her pieces by hand, using the coil or slab building technique, without using a potter's wheel. Each piece is then patiently covered with successive layers of colored slips and glazes, applied by hand, brush, or spray gun. These layerings create rich surface effects, ranging from matte textures to brilliant shines, from smooth to rough. She notably practices the Raku technique, an ancient Japanese firing method, which she boldly and poetically adapts to her art. She subjects her pieces to rapid and experimental firings, then plunges them into sawdust or exposes them to thermal shock. From these fiery improvisations emerge cracked surfaces, unexpected nuances, and happy accidents that fully contribute to the identity of her works. Fire, glaze, smoke, and chance become partners in creation, resulting in objects that are both everyday and meditative.
