Jana Francke is a Berlin-based designer and artist. 

The key to her aesthetic is the embodiment and physical reality of being alive, which find expression in her ceramic works that are created entirely by hand.

Her reverence of flesh and bodies as the sanctuary of life, mind and spirit radically clashes with traditional concepts of aesthetics or functionality. ‘Normality’, ‘correctness’ or ‘propriety’ give way to a shameless celebration of every aspect of living bodies: The animated, the ambiguous, the warped, the grotesque, the viscous and amorphous is what she works into alluring and seductive objects. 

Her sculptural work is a physical expression of the profound beauty of our living and feeling. Vulnerability mixes with strength, and the struggle for resilience is transformed into fascinating aesthetical formulations. It is an invitation to stare hard at the open wound, to let go of fear and instead to get familiar with things that could hurt. “You need to get seduced to be brave enough to get fascinated by something threatening”.

Francke’s studio practice revolves around the natural properties of the materials she works with, and the meticulous process of moulding every object individually by hand. The result of this tactile interplay is a natural flow of forms and shapes that carry a unique visceral sensuality and responsiveness.

 “My vessels hold my night- mares like fetishes.” – They are the occasion, object, product, witness, memorial and keeper of emotions. They seem dysfunctional, but their function becomes apparent in the empathy which their aesthetical allure demands.

2011-2017 Product and process design at Universität der Künste, Berlin
2012-2016 Teaching assistant porcelain atelier at Universität der Künste Berlin
2014-2017 Teaching assistant Art and Design, Prof. Jozef Legrand, Universität der Künste Berlin

2018 – Group show at Museum Villa Rot, Burgrieden
2019 – “Is this enough?” – Solo performance and duo show “BOUT” with Luke Jaaniste, Berlin
2022 – This Art Fair, Amsterdam
2022 – Sensoriality – The Agape – Performative workshop and group show at Monom, Berlin