Malene Hartmann Rasmussen creates fantastical ceramic sculptures drawing on her childhood memories of growing up in Denmark, along with Norse mythology and fairy tales, the natural world and cinematic influences. With an eerie and dreamlike quality, Rasmussen’s work is both familiar and yet quite removed from our everyday world. Whether displayed individually, or part of fantastical tableaux, her figures aim to elicit an emotional response in the viewer which actuates all our imaginations.
My Inner Beasts #3 (2017) was originally part of an installation for the 2017 British Ceramics Biennial in Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire. It was one of eight, highly expressive – terrifying yet cartoonish – creatures displayed within a multi-coloured vitrine. Rasmussen wrote at the time of this work: ‘Everyone has their own inner beasts. Most people are good at keeping them locked inside, but not me.
Rasmussen has talked publicly about the challenges of growing up with an alcoholic father who died when she was ten years old. She then became the carer for her mother, who lived with bipolar disorder, and who also passed away before Rasmussen graduated from art school. After working in art-house cinemas, Rasmussen’s training in ceramics gave her the ability to give exquisite physical form to the dark corners of her imagination in work such as My Inner Beasts .
The Harris holds extensive collections of historic books, fine and decorative art, and history collections ranging from local history to world cultures and archaeology. It is currently working on a major redisplay of the collections as part of a capital refurbishment of the building. Exploring how curatorial processes can engage with social issues such as mental health is a key theme. For this acquisition, the museum worked with local peer-led mental health groups to explore how artists use clay to explore complex social and emotional themes.
