About

Irene de Vilder (1997) is a ceramic artist from the Netherlands. Since 2022 she has been based in Lisbon, where she completed her Master’s degree in Glass and Ceramic Art and Science. She has done several exhibitions in Lisbon and has participated in the Ceramic Biennial of Aveiro in 2023 and 2025. The vessel is a central element in her practice. Whether it appears in its simplest form or as the core of a more complex sculptural piece, the vessel remains at the heart of her work. By starting from this fundamental shape and building upon it, she transforms vessels into sculptures that feel familiar yet unexpected.

Artist statement

Most ceramic sculptures contain an interior space. Once we recognize this, we see that the vessel is persistent in almost all ceramic work. I use this deliberately, taking the vessel as the anchor of my practice and interiority as its central concern. Even when a work becomes sculptural, it remains a vessel first.

From there, I work with hiddenness and openness: where air enters and leaves, what can be concealed, what is revealed. I build vessels whose shapes unexpectedly begin to resemble other objects or creatures, revealing another identity by its capacity to contain. These associations that I find In my vessels bring me a continuous way of working in my practice, where one piece will inspire the next.