CANADA

LOREN KAPLAN

Love in a Mist - 5 Petal Pod

$1,450.00
Exhibition Submission Statement

My work in porcelain is grounded in a sense of both limitlessness and containment and these two conditions exist simultaneously in the material. There is a sense of reigning in as everything around has to be clear, clean and sorted, and the work space clearly defined. Yet once I begin working, there is a feeling that the material can be pushed further and further, beyond what is possible with other clays.

In the Love in a Mist (a plant species also referred to as, Nigella damascena), this tension takes form. Hand building requires a pace that is inherently slower, and in that slowness I find a kind of clarity. It quiets distraction and allows for a more attentive engagement with the material. Porcelain demands this care. There are many disruptions and failures working with porcelain, taking it too far, too thin - it can easily collapse in the making or in the firing but the challenge for me is worth it. The material is capable of remarkable delicacy, thinness, translucency, and a luminous whiteness that holds both light and detail.

I am drawn to this balance: between control and risk, fragility and strength. The challenges of the material are part of its pull. Through working with porcelain, I am continually negotiating these limits, allowing the form to emerge through both intention and response.

Dimensions: 6”H x 11.5"W x 11.5"D

Material: Porcelain

Artwork ships: June 22, 2026 (when exhibition closes)

Love in a Mist - 5 Petal Pod

Loren Kaplan, 2026
1

Artist Statement

In my work I integrate symbolic, visual, tactile and spiritual values – blending form, function and meaning. My work resonates with light, sound, pattern and texture and includes pieces that are created by coiling and hand-building as well as specialized ranges of thrown work. Once built, the surface of the vessels are carved, sculpted or engraved with intricate patterns and symbols that combine the geometric and organic. I have also created a series of porcelain lighting made by piercing, slip-trailing and resisting intricate patterns through which the light resonates. There are many diversities and extremes that I try and hold and balance within my life and work. At times, white porcelain and black basalt clay; the closed, lidded and the open form; the tiny and the large. Within them all, they hold the silence and meditation of the making, the time, the process and the attention to detail. I make vessels because containers are about potential. My focus is on the space-in-between; defined spaces of emptiness making room for something to be held.

2

About the Artist

Ceramicist Loren Kaplan has been a practicing professional ceramic artist and teacher since the mid-’90s in South Africa. Loren moved to Toronto, Canada in 2013. During her career in ceramics, she has developed an idiosyncratic philosophy toward the hand-crafted artifacts she makes. “I make vessels because containers are about potential”, she says, further describing her sculpted and engraved containers as “defined spaces of emptiness that can be filled with something, or nothing”. The empty spaces she speaks of are more than just empty voids. For Loren, her vessels are loaded with symbolism and suggestive of the opportunity and change we all experience during our lives.

Artist cv

LOREN KAPLAN

Below is a short resume of my life and work.

  • Graduated in 1989 with a BA in Fine Arts in Photography from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
  • Studied Ceramics at the Kim Sacks School of Ceramics and started making ceramics full time creating one-off coiled and hand-built pieces (1991 –1995)
  • Set up my own teaching studio and continued to make ceramics (1995-Taught drawing and printmaking at the National School of the Arts, Grade10-12 (1996)
  • Taught photography and drawing at Visual Arts and Crafts Academy(VACA), a Non-Government Organisation focused on arts education and training (1996)
  • Vice-Principal of VACA (1997 –1999)•Director of VACA (2002 –2006)
  • Formed Ceramic Business with ceramist Anthony Shapiro designing and manufacturing specialized homeware ranges for local and international stores, the business became known as Loren & Ant Ceramic Designs (2002-2005)
  • Set upon my own as Loren Kaplan Ceramic Art and Design focusing on growing my teaching studio and my ceramics: commissioned based work, one-off coiled pieces, specialized ranges, porcelain and stoneware lights highly patterned with slip-trail and drilled piercings, collaborative work and organic firings (2005)
  • My teaching focused on all forms of handwork including pinching, coiling, sculptural work, slab work, the relationship of form, function and design, a diverse range of techniques of surface detail, and decoration for all levels of experience.
  • I was a Co-Trainer, Facilitator, and mentor for Create Africa Trading on behalf of the South African Department of Arts and Culture on Product Development, Design, and Marketing Courses for artists and crafters.
  • I have participated in and have had many exhibitions showcasing my work.
  • My works have won ceramic competitions and I have a work, ‘The Bells of Forgiveness’ as a part of the South African Constitutional Court Art Collection.

Exhibitions and Awards

1987 Martiensen Exhibition Annual student competition at the Gertrude Posel Gallery – Johannesburg

1988  Martiensen Exhibition – highly commended for photographic work

1991  Group exhibition of South African Fine Art photographers at the National Gallery of Namibia

1992  Group exhibition of Ceramics at the Kim Sacks Gallery – Johannesburg

1993  “Black and White in Craft”- Group exhibition at the Kim Sacks Gallery National Ceramic Biennale-won the First National Bank Award, 2ndprize in the Vessel Category

1995  Africus Biennale – Group exhibition of South African Ceramics entitled ‘Africa Earthed’ at Museum Africa – Johannesburg

1998  Vita Craft Award at the African Window – Johannesburg

1998  National Ceramics Biennale – Sandton Civic Gallery – Johannesburg

1998  Vita Craft Award at the Castle – Cape Town

1998  Participant of the South African exhibit at the World Trade Fair in London

1998  Beyond the Pale – Designer – maker exhibition – Johannesburg

1999  Beyond the Pale

2000  “Black and White in Craft”- Group exhibition at the Kim Sacks Gallery 2005 Gallerie Galapagos – Group Exhibition – Johannesburg

2006  Design Indaba – Cape Town Convention Centre 2006 Rooms on View – South Africa House – Sandton Convention Centre – Johannesburg

2007  Design Indaba – Cape Town Convention Centre 2007 SHIFT – Joint Exhibition with Yda Walt-Amoeba Gallery – Johannesburg

2008 Design Indaba – Cape Town Convention Centre 2008 National Corobrik Ceramics Exhibition – University of Johannesburg Art Gallery

2008  Making Space: Solo Exhibition at Alliance Francaise -Johannesburg 2008. Oppitafel VIII An Exhibition of Ceramic Art and Lighting at Artspace – Johannesburg

2008  Soccerex Department of Arts and Culture Sandton Convention Centre – Johannesburg

2009  Design Indaba – Cape Town Convention Centre 2009 Oppitafel Babettes Feast at Artspace Gallery – Johannesburg

2010  Translations: Art into Jewellery-Standard Bank Gallery – Johannesburg

2010  Group Show, Ceramic Artists OBJEKT – Parktown – Johannesburg

2011  Southern Guild Design Exhibition – Edward Read Gallery – Johannesburg

2011  Group Ceramic Exhibition – Art in the Forest Gallery – Cape Town

2012  RESONATE – Solo Exhibition of Ceramic Bells -Mot Mot – Johannesburg

2014  Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition – Honorable Mention – Ceramics

2015  Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition Fusion Show – Toronto

2016 Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition – Honorable Mention – Ceramics Fusion Show – Toronto 260 Fingers-Guest Artist- Ottawa Making Spaces – Group Exhibition – Peter McKendrick Gallery – Toronto

2017  Toronto Outdoor Art Show – Honorable Mention – Ceramics 2018 Selected artist for the Brain Project Toronto Outdoor Art Show

2019  Toronto Outdoor Art Show Collections Constitutional Court of South Africa Art Collection: Bells of Forgiveness-A set of 6 Basalt Bells hanging off a mild steel structure.

Other works from this Exhibition