Swedish born artist Ulrica Trulsson creates beautifully crafted pots with intriguing glazed surfaces in shifting colours and textures. The process of working with clay has given her a unique way of viewing the nature around her, which feeds back into her work. This can be found in her celebration of the materials and intuitive approach to making. Ulrica was previously based in South Australia at JamFactory Contemporary Craft and Design, where she undertook the Associate Training Program. She now lives in Brisbane/Meanjin making work from her home studio for exhibitions across Australia. Her work is represented in collections including the Art Gallery of Western Australia and Hamilton Gallery, Victoria, and is held in many private collections nationally and overseas.
Each day I am drawn outside walking and watching, collecting impressions from the environment around me. I find a stillness here as though the cycles inherent in nature and the creative forces at work are momentarily paused. With curiosity focusing my attention, I make discoveries; a tapestry of patterns in the undergrowth where shapes are woven through the tree roots, and an embroidery of detail in the bark of the trees. The intricacies and entanglements I notice underpin my practice. The Swedish poet Karin Boye wrote in one of her poems that she was ‘carried by the strength of fragile things’. To me these words describe the impact of my tender moments of connection with nature and with my practice. With my hands in the clay, the collected seeds of imagination are revealed though the making process. Time, care and the slow ritual of my craft becomes another way for me to connect with our powerful, fragile natural surroundings.
Ulrica Trulsson, 2025
