Tribute to Lisa Larson
Lisa Larson, Sweden's world-renowned ceramic artist, has passed away. The news was so widespread in Japan that it even broke in Sweden. This shows just how beloved Lisa Larson was in Japan. When I heard the news of her passing, I was completely lost for a while. I knew this day would come someday, but when it did, I felt a huge hole in my heart. I would like to talk about Lisa Larson's life in honor of all her achievements.
Lisa was born in Härlunda, a small village of around 500 people in the Älmhult district of Kronoberg county in the region of Småland in southern Sweden.
In Sweden, a "small village" can literally mean an area with only a few dozen people living there. Sweden is a country larger than Japan, but with a total population of about 10 million. Small villages have very few people and are far more "rural" than what we would consider "countryside" in Japan.
Born in such a small village, Lisa dreamed of becoming a fashion designer as a child. Although she had always had artistic inclinations, it wasn't until later in life that she had the opportunity to come into contact with pottery. Lisa was not born to be a potter.
During his university years, he majored in painting and ceramics at the University of Gothenburg (Göteborgs Slöjdföreningens skola) in southern Sweden. There is an anecdote from that time, when he picked up pottery clay, he intuitively decided to pursue a career in ceramics.
Lisa Larson's career progressed smoothly from there. While she was still a student, she entered a flower vase she had made at a design contest held in Helsinki, the capital of neighboring Finland, and was noticed by a leading designer who happened to be at the venue, leading to her being scouted.
The designer in question was Stig Lindberg , a pioneer of the "Mid-Century" Swedish art movement of the mid-20th century. Lindberg was both an artist and a businessman, and was the chief designer at Gustavsberg, a long-established Swedish ceramics manufacturer that had been in business since the 19th century. Lindberg headhunted talented young designers and allowed them to work freely as interns within the company for a year. In this way, he created new products and also attempted to nurture the next generation of artists. This was the moment when a girl from a rural town with a population of only a few hundred had her talent discovered by Sweden's leading ceramics manufacturer.
Lisa began working under Lindberg's tutelage. In 1953, she created a small cat with a standing tail, which was met with praise, and Lindberg encouraged her to complete a series of cats in a similar style. This resulted in the " Lilla Zoo" series in 1955, which became the first of Lisa's works to be mass-produced.
Lisa Larson is known to be a cat lover, but in fact, she has only ever had cats as pets. One of her well-known works is a lion sculpture from 1963 , but although it is called a lion, it actually looks more like a cat, and this may have been the reason behind this.
After marrying the painter Gunnar Larsson and settling in the Stockholm area, Lisa began incorporating animal and child motifs into her work in the 1960s. Her experience of becoming a mother broadened her creative horizons and added new depth to her work. By that time, Lisa had already become a fairly well-known ceramic artist in Sweden.
In fact, Lisa Larson visited the venue as a member of the Swedish delegation at the Osaka Expo held in 1970. Although she had already had the opportunity to come into contact with Japanese ceramics through her teacher Lindberg, it was her first visit to Japan and her first encounter with the modern, popular Japanese ceramics movement, such as the Mingei movement.
Lisa Larson's work was a result of her intense research into materials, which set her apart from the traditional Swedish ceramics of the time. One technique that she was particularly passionate about was "chamotte." After firing in a kiln, hardened clay lumps are crushed into powder. This powder is then mixed back into ceramic clay to create her works. This time-consuming step ensures the strength of the finished pieces while allowing for greater freedom in design. While many of Lisa Larson's works appear to have an earthy texture at first glance, they are actually not bisque fired, but are made to be stronger and more resistant to breakage than regular ceramics.
In 1974, she designed pieces for children from around the world as part of a UNICEF charity project called "Children of the World." She expanded her work from a motif of children as mothers to include sculptures of children of all races and skin types from around the world. She continued to hold exhibitions with her husband, Gunnar, and became a freelance designer in 1979.
The company also provides designs to Höganäs, the major domestic retailer Åhléns, and the German ceramics manufacturer Rosenthal, but it also continues to provide designs to its former employer, Gustavsberg.
She visited Japan twice, in 1979 and 1981, and held solo exhibitions at Seibu Department Store in Tokyo. While it is not uncommon for solo exhibitions at department stores to attract tens of thousands of people, her 1981 exhibition attracted a total of 70,000 visitors. Following her first solo exhibition, Lisa Larson's name was already well known in Japan by the time of her second exhibition.
Lisa Larson's connection with Japan doesn't end there. In 1986, she designed a piece called "Jang" for a Swedish department store called Åhlens, which was actually manufactured in Japan and sold in Sweden. The "Jang" series is a high-quality "Made in Japan" piece that has almost no crazing, which is typical of Scandinavian tableware, and no support marks.
In the 1990s, she returned to Keramix Studio Gustavsberg, which had been established as Gustavsberg's in-house atelier. Together with her assistants from her time at Gustavsberg, she began to reproduce and produce Gustavsberg products from the 1960s and 1970s, which Lisa herself had loved so much. The majority of Lisa Larson's works currently available in Japan were made in this atelier.
In the 2000s , he actively participated in solo exhibitions around the world under the supervision of Keramix Studio Gustavsberg. In his home studio, he continued to create new works while also researching materials. It was truly a lifelong passion as a ceramic artist.
Currently in Japan, a Lisa Larson exhibition is being held at art museums around the country, showcasing many unique pieces that will eventually be returned to her home country of Sweden. Now that Lisa has passed away, her works will likely become even more beloved and cherished, becoming less accessible to us. We encourage you to take this opportunity to see a variety of Lisa Larson's works.
In closing, I would like to express my heartfelt condolences to Lisa Larson, who was loved around the world, loved in Japan, and loved Japan as well.
