Axelle Delhaye

Axelle Delhaye is a Belgian ceramicist whose relationship with clay goes back to childhood, when she shaped pieces alongside her grandmother. She later studied painting at La Cambre in Brussels, though in the end it was ceramics that became her most natural way of expressing herself.

Delhaye works in stoneware using sgraffito, a technique where the image is scratched directly into the clay surface. She uses only one or two colors, so attention draws naturally to form and line instead of shades. Imperfection is an essential part of how she works: shapes are allowed to emerge partly by chance, and nothing is polished too far.