chakana
handcrafted porcelain vases in collaboration with manufactory berlin
photography by Volker Lammers
Chankana is a hand-crafted collection of geometric shaped vases made of porcelain. CHAKANA is named after the Inca symbol Tawa Chakana. The vases forms are inspired by the aesthetics of the ancient Incan american culture. The patterns of their textiles consist of sharp lines and iconic shapes, reminding stairs and triangles, elaborately wo- ven into the material. They are precious, costly and were displaying craftsmanship and high culture.
The set of vases refer to these inca forms and their craftsmanship. They are reinterpretating them by becoming a pattern themsevels. Instead of adding a pattern on the materials surface, material itsself creates the pattern.
Different shades of an earthy red form a gradient of colours on the vase. Thereby the shapes of the vases seem to appear surreal, as if the different parts have been stacked onto each other. Together they compose a formal unity, they become an archetype.
The vases are fabricated in a complex process and can only be produced in a hand-crafted edition. The figure of the vases, their straight lines and sharp edges, makes them very difficult to produce, bringing the material porce- lain to its borders. C H A K A N A means a new interpretation of the material porcelain.