Nina Malterud
Nina Malterud: earthenware between vessel and image
Nina Malterud is a Norwegian ceramic artist, born in Oslo in 1951. She studied at the National College of Art and Design from 1971 to 1974, then trained with Lisbet Dæhlin. Store norske leksikon describes her background and work.
A sustained exploration of ceramic forms
Malterud has worked as an artist since 1975, first in Oslo and later Bergen. Her own presentation and CV also document extensive work in art education: professor of ceramics from 1994 to 2002 and rector of Bergen National Academy of the Arts from 2002 to 2010.
Early works included cups, vessels and later large jars. Her influences included Minoan ceramics, Nordic Iron Age pottery and Norwegian rose painting. Smaller surfaces and ceramic imagery later became more prominent. Kode’s presentation of Materielle påstander in 2022 traces this development through works from across her career.
Glaze, repetition and change
Malterud uses familiar ceramic forms to explore colour and surface. Her 2012 Kunstnerforbundet exhibition included rectangular, square, round and oval earthenware dishes. Slips and glazes were developed through repeated firings. The presentation describes a shift from stricter ornament and earth colours to smaller objects with painterly surfaces. See the exhibition archive.
In Norwegian Crafts’ 2021 studio visit, she describes moving from making patterns herself to allowing glazes to develop patterns through the process. The material's reactions thus exert greater influence over the finished expression.
The works may still refer to dishes and small serving tiles, but expression takes priority over practical function. Layers of glaze react with one another, and unexpected traces are developed further. Kunstbanken’s 2018 exhibition Leire i banken describes this way of developing each object.
Works showing the range
The technique description for Nasjonalmuseet's Fat, from 2012, specifies modelled, glazed earthenware with slip decoration; it measures 32.4 cm in length. Kvadrat med sirkel, from 2016, is an earthenware plaque with slip and glaze, approximately 38 by 38 cm.
Whiteout, from 2021, is recorded as rolled and glazed earthenware, 55.3 cm high and 66.7 cm wide. These works show how the connection with dishes and tiles can continue in independent objects with pictorial qualities.
Series, individual character and condition
Related forms should be compared through differences in glaze, body thickness and detailing, alongside their dimensions. The term series does not establish a numbered edition or identical examples. Documented titles, dates and previous exhibitions should accompany each individual work.
Condition assessment must distinguish holes and openings in glaze from chips, flaking and fractures in the ceramic body. Close photographs in raking light can clarify the difference. Malterud's use of unexpected material effects makes it particularly important to avoid treating every irregularity as damage or every injury as intentional. The back, hanging arrangement and later interventions should also be described.
