Strata
In Strata, Natasja van der Meer explores how archaeological finds from the soil of South Holland can take on new meaning. Eight materials form the starting point: flint, mammoth bone, ceramics, wood, glass, iron, natural stone and leather. Each carries the traces of a different time, from geological origin and human use to centuries of preservation in the earth.
These materials are not silent remains, but active carriers of knowledge, history and possibilities. Their mineral properties form glazes in which time, chance, alchemy and craftsmanship flow together. The past is not reconstructed but given a new form of appearance.
The glazes come together on a series of porcelain plates. Their surfaces recall sediments and cross-sections of the soil. Colours, textures and traces merge into one another. Each plate becomes a landscape in which geological time, human history and contemporary craft converge.
Strata builds on what has been preserved in the ground. Old matter forms a new layer, without losing its history. What lay hidden for centuries finds its place in a story that began thousands of years ago and continues into the present.
