ASTRID SPECHT SEEBERG (b.1999, DK)

Astrid Specht Seeberg is a self-taught ceramic artist and sculptor with no formal art education. Her’s art practice is deeply connected to the aquatic environment. Her large-scale ceramic sculptures take inspiration from creatures evolved from water and aim to highlight the energetic language of these organisms through abstraction and indirect personification. 

Astrid is fascinated by hydro-existence, the idea of living in an aquatic ecosystem, and draws inspiration from it for her ceramic sculptures. Her attraction to bodies of water also connects to hydrosexuality, which influences her work.

Astrid has partnered with marine biologists from Hungary and Mangrove ecologists from Bremen University in collaborations to develop future ceramic installations that allow viewers to fully immerse themselves in her art using all their senses. 

Her abstract and expressive works often feature organic forms and textures, as she embraces a raw and improvisational approach.

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The automatic and intuitive play an essential role in Astrid's work. She experiments with taking components from automatic drawing and anagram poetry, both of which were common practices among surrealists in the 1930s. Through continuous conversations with marine biologist Susie Bagotai about organisms and life forms in the ocean, she stores this information in her subconscious, to finally let it flow through her when she constructs her sculptures. This occurs in a deeply meditative flow stage where she focuses on her intuitive sense and lets the logical fall away. By suppressing and restricting the rational and conscious control of the mind over the creative process, it  allows the body's and psyche's subconscious to manifest itself.

By discovering the natural bends and shapes that the clay takes through her manipulation, she can spot the elements in the artwork that she must highlight to eventually tell a story that blends science with her own personal interpretation and experiences.

Seeberg’s work focuses on creating balance points and organic results in sculptures that are on the verge of collapsing. She highlights and stabilizes the collapsing works, seeing "mistakes" as beautiful and creating movement and curiosity in her pieces. 

She has rapidly gained recognition for her art practice and was awarded the Danish Carl-Nielsen Foundation Talent Prize in 2022. She has exhibited her works at galleries in Copenhagen, including Galleri Kant and Anne Aarsland for Kunstsalonen.