Patrick Carpentier: A Poetic Landscape of Form and Language
At Claroscuro we begin our new section on contemporary design with the ceramic work of Patrick Carpentier, a Brussels-based artist whose practice moves between sculpture, photography, installation and curatorial projects. In his hands simple forms become carriers of meaning, shaped by tension, balance and material presence.
A Poetic Landscape of Form and Language
Writing is always Carpentier’s starting point. He describes his practice as building “simple stories centred on the observation of language by ways of antinomy.” By attending to silence as much as speech, and to absence as much as presence, his work opens spaces where forms and ideas shift away from opposition towards nuance.
Carpentier began working with clay during an artist residency in Hanoi in 2019. Encountering the strong traditions of South Asian ceramics led him, for the first time, to make containers such as vases, bowls and jars. His search has since drawn on the quiet power of Korean moon jars, the ceremonial forms of Dogon jars from Mali, the rounded presence of South African beer pots and the fragments of 10th-century ceramics unearthed in Brussels. Each influence traces a shared history in which clay has been shaped into vessels that hold not only material but meaning.
His ceramics are not conceived as decorative objects but as sculptural meditations on weight, texture and balance. Some are left raw, exposing the grain of the clay, while others carry soft glazes in muted tones that recall the stillness of Morandi. Stacking and verticality recur, creating fragile towers that hover between architectural rhythm and precarious balance.
Beyond his own production Carpentier has also contributed to Brussels’s cultural life. He cofounded Maison Commun, a platform where artists and designers reinterpret everyday shapes as jewellery, and he established the gallery-space C5 (CCINQ), which hosted experimental exhibitions. Both projects reflect his ongoing interest in creating contexts where objects and ideas enter into dialogue.
The ceramic pieces we will present carry this same sensibility. They are shaped by thought and restraint, inviting slow attention. Each piece stands as both container and sculpture, rooted in a long history yet distinctly his own.
Patrick Carpentier’s ceramics offer an encounter with material and form at their most essential. They are objects that resist haste, that invite reflection, and that show how clay, in its fragility and strength, can embody a language of its own.
At Claroscuro we are proud to present these works, part of a continuing series that introduces contemporary artists and designers whose practice enriches interiors with authenticity and depth.
Photography by Miguel Rózpide