Clementina van der Walt is a renowned South African studio potter based in Cape Town. Over the past four decades, she has lectured, run a production studio, and held numerous one-person shows. Her work is represented in several South African national and international collections.

Together with her partner Albie Bailey, van der Walt runs the Clementina Ceramics Studio and a separate store in Woodstock, Cape Town. They also operate a small Kraaldoring Studio and Gallery outside Calitzdorp in the Klein Karoo.

Van der Walt's intention is to seek the sacred in the ordinary. She believes that in the 21st century, we are increasingly being catapulted into the cyber age of information overload, and making contemplative and utilitarian objects by hand forms a necessary antidote. The ceramic discipline, with cultural and historical links to rituals of everyday life, encompasses society, religion, and philosophy. The archetypal significance of the home, as a point where our spiritual and earthy lives interconnect, is where she has attempted to explore these ideas.

Her aesthetic inspiration is drawn from the patterns, colours, and textures in the urban African and rural landscapes. She applies techniques of press moulding, casting, and throwing, and uses earthenware clays, slips, and underglazes.

Clementina van der Walt is considered a significant force in South African ceramics for the last three decades. She is an artist who works with a unique purity and vibrancy. Her contemporary ceramics include design plates, beakers, and other utilitarian objects.

1992 : International Exhibition of Contemporary Ceramic Art, National Museum of History, Republic of China
1994 : South African Craft Market at Grand Central Station, New York City, U.S.A.
1998 : “Down to Earth: New Ceramics from South Africa”, Long House Reserve, New York, U.S.A
2000 : South African Pavilion, International Trade Fair, Caen, France
2005 : Ceramic Art London 2005, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2006 : Ceramic Art London 2006, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2006 : Sidney Myer Fund International Ceramics Award Show, Shepparton Art Gallery, Australia
2007 : Ceramic Art London 2007. Royal College of Art, London, UK
2007 : SOFA New York, represented by Reece Galleries at the 67th Armory
2008 : Ceramic Art London 2008, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2009 : Ceramic Art London 2009. Royal College of Art,London ,UK
2009 : Art in Clay 2009. Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, UK
2010 : Ceramic Art London 2010, Royal College of Art, London UK
2011 : Ceramic Art London 2011, Royal College of Art, London. UK
2011 : GIC Biennale 2011, Gyeonggi-do, Repulic of Korea
2012 : Ceramic Art London, 2012, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2013 : Art in Clay 2013, Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, UK
2013 : Earth and Fire, Rufford Park,Nottinghamshire, UK
2014 : 10th International Ceramics Festival Mino, Japan
2014 : Taiwan Ceramics Biennale, Yingge Museum, New Taipei City, Taiwan
2014 : IAC 2014 Members Exhibition, National College of Art & Design, Dublin, Ireland
2018 : Ceramic Art London 2018, St. Martins Central,London. UK
2019 : International judge and exhibitor, PAN National Ceramics Biennale 2019, National Gallery of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia
2024 : Compressing Materiality, EBONY/CURATED, Franschhoek, South Africa

RESIDENCIES


2001 Guldagergaard – International Ceramic Research Centre, Skaelskor

2016 The Leach Pottery, St Ives, Cornwall, UK

2018 The Leach Pottery, St Ives, Cornwall, UK

PUBLIC ART COLLECTIONS

Johannesburg Art Gallery

Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town

Market Theatre Foundation, Johannesburg

Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria

William Humphreys Museum, Kimberley

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum

Yingge Ceramics Museum, New Taipei City, Taiwan

Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu, Japan