Ipek Kotan Ceramics

Delighted to share my interview with Pinar Celikel in Turkish newspaper Oksijen, published in today's paper. Pinar asked me about upcoming and biggest exhibition in Boston at Pucker Gallery opening in a couple weeks; what inspires me and what it's like to live and work abroad. Many thanks to Pinar for her thoughtful questions!

You may read the interview by clicking on the photo or visiting this link, if you subscribe to Oksijen: https://gazeteoksijen.com/o2/kaselerin-icine-dunyalari-sigdiriyor-167919

Glaze testing is always so exciting! There are parts of my work that I don’t enjoy at all but are necessary, like sanding and polishing and of course dealing with the cracks. But mixing glazes and testing them in various temperatures, firing schedules, kilns and clays is one of my favorite things!! Seeing these these ordinary looking powders turn into shimmering, crackling, glossy, matt or satin glazes is so exciting!

Being an artist is not easy. The cracks are heart-breaking and the ups and downs that come from being a professional artist are quite hard but like in any relationship you learn to deal with the difficulties and enjoy the good bits.

Glaze research and seeing the results after a firing for me are two of the most interesting and fun parts of being a ceramist! Part science and part magic! 💖👩🏻‍🔬🧫🧚‍♀️🧪🔥🦄

I spent my Saturday coffee break organizing my Orton cones. These little refractory cones go in the kiln to measure heat-work so that one knows how high the kiln fired. It helps to be able to reproduce good results and avoid undesired ones. Heat-work is different than temperature in the way that it also takes into account time. You can go to 1230 degrees in a few hours or in a week. Similarly cooling of the kiln can be done in a fee hours or in a week. The results will be massively different. Orton cones are also great at telling you where the hot and cool spots are in a kiln… 🤓 ?

Smurf glaze! Made from free-range, sustainably grown, organic Smurfs. Just kidding. 😁 A little food coloring makes white glazes visible when I spray them on my work… The food coloring burns away in the firing.

And number three. At least the glazes are coming out nice! You have to find the silver lining, right? Thankfully the rest of the firing was good. I’ll post those another time. Bad news first.

Three pieces cracked in the firing I opened yesterday. This is number two. 💔

Here is why it’s so hard to work with porcelain, especially with flat, large or thick pieces. This is maybe the 20th such piece I’ve made in the last few years. I’m not about to give up but just wanted to show everyone why some things take time and why artists who work with porcelain are some of the most patient people in the world… 💔

Klei magazine article from July 2020. With thanks to Piet Augustijn of Klei magazine and Nesrin During for her thoughtful questions and interest in my work.

One of the bigger pieces I’m working on for my next show. This one was thrown using 10 kg (roughly 20 lbs) porcelain/stoneware clay. Still intact, miraculously and drying veeeeery slowly… Fingers crossed! 🧿🤞Lost quite a few big pieces to drying cracks recently. 😢

Sneak preview as I get ready for my next solo show… ✨

Not all pieces end up intact would be an understatement… Working with porcelain in large scale has been a very difficult journey…

Leven! Leiden magazine’s current issue featuring an article about my work. Many thanks to for his endless curiosity, time and thoughtful questions. Photo credits: Bart van Bussel, Frigesch Lampelmayer and David Marchon

Proud to be in the local daily ! Many thanks to documentary filmmaker and official Leiden city photographer for 2021-2022 for his images and our conversations over three months which went both deep and wide. We talked about how I felt compelled to leave a comfortable job to go back to university at the age of 30 to study art full time and how ceramics helped me overcome my depression which lasted over a decade. This year Koen is interviewing and photographing 52 expats living in Leiden from 52 countries for the local paper. It’s an honor to be picked for the project and to represent my home country, Turkey!

No rest for the wicked! As my first solo show in NYC comes to an end at (though the gallery will continue to keep some of@my works for those who missed the show) I’m already back to work…These tiles are going to the design studio of Sonia Ashoor, an architect I highly respect and admire in Bahrain, tomorrow. Exciting possibilities!!! I love how my work brings wonderful new people into my life. More on this new possible collaboration later… Feeling so grateful! ✨✨✨

Very pleased to have a piece in Maison Francaise Turkey’s September edition about my ongoing solo show in New York at Zetterquist Galleries, which closes today.

For more info please visit and contact Eric Zetterquist to make an appointment! Due to the pandemic his gallery is open only by appointment. He may be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at +1 212 751 0650.

Many thanks to Rana Korgul for her thoughtful questions and such a positive article; as well as Frigesch Lampelmayer, Thomas van Schaik and Ernst Yperlaan for their beautiful photos.

Last two days of my solo show at Zetterquist Galleries in New York! If you'd like to see the exhibition, please make sure you make arrangements soon as it closes tomorrow, Saturday, September 25th.

Please note due to the pandemic the gallery is open to visit only by appointment. For more info please visit zetterquist.com/selected-images and contact Eric Zetterquist. He may be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at +12127510650.

Day 14 of my solo show at Zetterquist Galleries in New York. If you're in NYC and want to see the show, please make sure you make arrangements soon as it will run through this Saturday, September 25th.

Please note due to the pandemic the gallery is open to visit only by appointment. For more info please visit zetterquist.com and contact Eric Zetterquist. He may be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at +12127510650.

With thanks to Vanbusselphotography for his beautiful images.

Absolutely thrilled to be showing my newest work at in New York. Today is day two and the exhibition will run through 25th of September. Please note due to the pandemic the gallery is open to visit only by appointment. For more info please visit zetterquist.com and contact Eric Zetterquist. He may be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at +12127510650.

With thanks to for his beautiful images.

Day one of solo show in New York at

For more info please visit and contact Eric Zetterquist to make an appointment to visit. Due to the pandemic his gallery is open only by appointment. He may be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at +1 212 751 0650.

Many thanks to for the beautiful images.

Thrilled to have a piece in Vogue Turkey’s September edition about my upcoming solo show in New York at Zetterquist Galleries (8-25 September).

For more info please visit and contact Eric Zetterquist to make an appointment! Due to the pandemic his gallery is open only by appointment. He may be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at +1 212 751 0650.

Many thanks to for her thoughtful questions and such a positive article; as well as and for their beautiful photos.

Thrilled to have a piece in Vogue Turkey's September edition about my upcoming solo show in New York at Zetterquist Galleries (8-25 September). Many thanks to Gamze Kantarcıoğlu for her thoughtful questions and such a positive article; as well as to Frigesch Lampelmayer and Thomas van Schaik Photography for their beautiful photos. For more info, please visit https://www.zetterquist.com/artist-bio. Please note due to the pandemic, it is only be possible to visit by appointment.

PLEASE CONTACT ERIC ZETTERQUIST FOR AN APPOINTMENT BEFORE GOING TO THE GALLERY. He may be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at +1 212 751 0650.

Packing day #1 for upcoming solo show at Zetterquist Galleries during Asia Week New York in September! Next packing day in a few days after the last kiln cools!! ✨

Day two of photo shoot with for upcoming solo show during Asia Week New York in September. ✨✨✨

Photo shoot day with for upcoming solo show during Asia Week New York in September. 💖 Feeling so grateful! Another dream coming true! 🙏✨

Sanding, sanding, sanding…

Out of 40+ variations of my favorite metallic glaze, I decided to go with these for the show. To someone else they might seem the same but to me the crystals are so different. These tiny differences is what drives my work, feeds my curiosity and why I love ceramics so much. In each test tile, I see a whole universe and can observe the crystals or cracks or patterns for a long time and never get bored. Even though at times it can feel like I chose a very difficult profession, most times I feel blessed and very lucky to have found something that continues to fascinate me and pushes me to keep learning and experimenting even after almost 15 years… 💖✨🙏🧿

Safety first! 🤓 Glaze mixing day 186253… or something like that. The last few months have been really intense but totally worth it.

Day 6 of glaze mixing! 👩🏻‍🔬⚗️⚖️✨💖

With so few days left to sending the new pieces to New York I really need to use my time in the studio, the few chances I have for testing new glazes and firing the kilns very carefully. This means thinking of details such as how many test tiles can I fit on a kiln shelf and how many tests can I fit in one firing? I’ve got my engineer and scientist hats on today and loving every minute of this excitement! Does it make me a geek to be excited about these calculations? Probably. :)) 🤓