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.