Turkish and Danish, born in 1938 Istanbul
Lives and works in Paris, France

Alev Ebüzziya Siesbye studied and worked in Istanbul, Copenhagen, and Höhr-Grenzhausen before setting up her workshop in Paris in 1987. Everything in her practice evokes time, and her approach to ceramics exemplifies the notion of communion between the craftsperson and their material. Each of her bowls embeds the time she spent to find her language, her rhythm, and her tempo. For Ebüzziya Siesbye it is the task of the ceramicist to know and feel when the combinations are right, when they make sense. Every shape has its own vibration, every colour has its own resonance.

The seemingly simplicity of her works should not be taken lightly. It is the achievement of a life dedicated to kneading clay to the correct texture, adjusting enamel recipes to obtain the perfect colour, refining curves to harmoniously balance a shape. Far from being minimalist, her coiled clay bowls epitomise the essence of the vessel. Their generous curves, bellies, and long lips, immobilised in levitation, hold something metaphysical.

Alev Ebüzziya Siesbye was made Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France in 2009, Knight of Dannebrogordenen, Denmark in 2000 and was awarded the Prins Eugen Medal in Sweden in 1995. Her work is included in the collections of the V&A museum, London; Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris; LACMA, Los Angeles; Cooper-Hewitt Museum, New York, and Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam.