Since 1984 Jussi and I have been working here, outside the little town Skara, in the western part of Sweden.
My works are made in stoneware, fired to 1230 C in electric or gas kiln. I use plaster molds to model the different parts in, then assembling them by hand, building in the motion and the rhythm in the surface. The glaze is semi matt, like skin, to promote all the different shades made by light and shadow.
I work fairly slowly, in a sculpting way, allowing my thoughts, memories and feelings to transfer into the material.
“Marie Beckman’s stoneware borrows elements from a machine aesthetic: tube, chimneys, cogs and blocks that interlock as though parts of some mysterious machine. “I do not consciously think about machinery but, rather, in rhythms of depths, shadows and light.” She builds her architectonic objects by hand, casting the finer parts in plaster moulds. Her favourite, graphite-black glaze, in-between matt and gloss, attaches to the surfaces like a layer of asphalt. The glaze is allowed to run over the edges of the piece so that there are gaps revealing other colours beneath as though the item was worn by years of intense use. The black glaze gives a sensation of great warmth. It is strong as cast iron and reassuring to the touch. “I like things to be serious”, Marie Beckman observes and there is a ceremonial atmosphere to her work which has proved attractive church authorities as being suitable for liturgical usage. She often adds gold-leaf which lends the vessels a sophisticated, almost magical effect as they seem to radiate an inner light. She has hand-built a collection of timeless, large-scale pieces with double walls that are suited to public buildings or an elegant dream home. “Somebody maintained that these pieces reminded them of leather sofas”, Marie Beckman confesses. Her most recent work has abandoned organic forms and is geometrically constructed on cylindrical shapes with a touch of steampunk and Jules Verne’s mechanical fantasies.”
- Petter Eklund 2012
