interview 'art-to-art-palette'

Pottery became his music

 

    Eddy Van Meulebroeck has always been interested in history and in foreign cultures. He travelled a lot and came in contact with the contemporary and the historical art of different civilizations. “I became intoxicated with clay in France, where nearly every village has a pottery studio.” However, Eddy’s artistic life began as a songwriter in a band. “I did not like to play covers so I started to write my own songs. I did not want to be a copy-paste artist.”

    Ceramics took the artist on a journey for eight years, at the academy of art in Eeklo, Belgium, his birthplace and where he started  his own studio. Also, he co-founded the “Cuesta” which is a group of ceramists who work together for the advancement of mutual interests. Later Van Meulebroeck then became a  publisher of a weekly ceramic publication, and in addition taught  pottery specifics, such as, throwing, lichen glaze, terra sigillata, and raku.

    "Akhenaten” is a work where he received his inspiration from Akhenaten and Nefertiti, an Egyptian pharaoh and his wife. They were known for changing Egypt’s religion from a polytheistic religion to a monotheistic religion, only believing in one god: The Sun. "My artistic expression gives birth to a forgotten world of silence, a place where no voice was heard because every trace of existence was carefully wiped out by their successors. However, they were given a voice  in our world, but where nearly nobody listens." Thrown on the wheel and remodelled, it took Eddy more than a year to develop the appropriate glazes. It was fired to 1220 degrees.

    “My goal is to be different, always in search of something original and with elegance.” He does not want to be part of a trend and “I frequently find a“déjà vu” when I visit a pottery  exhibition.” Van Meulebroeck’s works has a definite awareness. “I never use the word new, but I do  say different.” His inspirations comes from nature, history, and unspecified motivations.

by Ralph Stuckman  art-to-art palette Ohio USA