Carolein Smit

Carolein Smit (b. 1960, the Netherlands) is a Dutch artist who studied at the St. Joost Academy of Art in Breda. She originally worked in lithography, graphic design, and drawing, but later turned exclusively to ceramics. In 1996 she was an artist-in-residence at the European Ceramic Work Centre in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, and her work has earned her the prestigious Kerano Award.

In her work she creates figurative ceramic sculptures that combine the grotesque with beauty, the decorative with the unsettling, and life with death. She draws inspiration from medieval bestiaries and reliquaries, Christian iconography, mythology, fairy tales, folklore, and anatomy. Recurring motifs include skulls, skeletons, animals, and mythological creatures. Her works often evoke the principle of vanitas, pointing to the transience of human life.

Smit’s work is characterized by rich textures, a deft handling of light, and vivid, highly glossy glazes that give her unsettling motifs the appearance of jewels. Her sculptures thus come across as fragile, sublime, and sinister all at once, creating an imaginary world. Her work has been exhibited at venues including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Kunsthal Rotterdam, and the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature in Paris, among others.