Elke Sada

Curriculum Vitae

Elke Sada (born 1965) is a German ceramic artist with an impressive international career. She obtained a BA in 3D-Design-Ceramics from Bath Spa University (2003) and an MA in Ceramics & Glass from the Royal College of Art in London (2005). Her workshops were in Usingen (2005), Hamburg (2007), and since 2014 in Leipzig.

Her work has been exhibited worldwide, including at the Salon Art + Design in New York (2025), Musée Ariana in Geneva (2024), and Paris Design Week (2024). Other highlights include Collect London (2022), the Loewe Craft Prize in Tokyo (2019), and solo exhibitions such as Hallstattpieces in La Borne (2018).

Each Sada received several awards and was also nominated several times for prestigious prizes such as the Loewe Craft Prize (2019).

Inspiration

Elke Sada’s Hallstatt pieces are expressive ceramic vases inspired by an antique copper bowl from the Natural History Museum in Hallstatt, Austria. Her creations reflect centuries-old craft traditions, combined with a contemporary approach. Vibrant colour palettes, often inspired by the plumage of birds, bring her sculptures to life and give them a unique symbolism.
Intuition and spontaneity play a key role in her work, embracing the unknown and breaking new ground.
Each creation embodies the natural vitality of the material and celebrates the unpredictability of the creative process.

Technique

Sada works intuitively by joining soft clay fragments together, leaving traces of her fingers visible and rough edges adding to the dynamic character.
The vases combine ceramic forms with powerful painting, strategically applying layers of vibrant colours.
After a bisque firing, she adds glaze, which blends harmoniously with the powdery surface of the engobes.
She experiments with clay types such as grooved red earthenware, black pottery and porcelain, fired between 1150 and 1200°C.
Her pieces have a tactile quality, deliberately imperfect, with rough edges that emphasise their expressiveness. Each piece is a unique, contemporary art object, signed and dated, with a historical soul.