ABOUT

My work stems from a visceral need to create with my hands using natural materials and a love of the sculptural vessel form. The vessel being one of the oldest objects ever made and one of the most commonly found in archeological sites the world over, to me it’s an embodiment of the timelessness, endurance and the universality of the human experience. 

I’m interested in what this form represents metaphysically and use it as a canvas and a frame in which I explore modern and minimalist expressions.  I keep the exteriors of my forms simple like a frame in which I bring out complex textures and colors so that together with the form they can radiate a calm and soothing energy.

I was born and raised in Istanbul, though I’ve been living abroad in a number of places far and away from my hometown including England, Austria, Switzerland, Indonesia and the States since the mid 90s. Currently I’m based in Leiden, a small city in the Netherlands.

My work is represented in over 250 private art collections from internationally and in public collections in Germany, the Netherlands and Turkey.

CURRICULUM VITAE

1977 Born in Istanbul, Turkey
Lives and works in Leiden, The Netherlands

EDUCATION

2010 MA Ceramic Design, Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, England
2008 Foundation Studies in Art and Design, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, United States
2000 BA Media Arts, Emerson College, Boston, MA, United States

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands 
Staatliche Kunstammlungen Dresden, Dresden, Germany
Museen der Stadt Landshut – Rudolf Strasser Collection, Landshut, Germany
Presidential Art Collection, Ankara, Turkey

SOLO AND TWO-PERSON SHOWS

2023 Pucker Gallery, Boston, United States
2021 Zetterquist Galleries, New York, United States
2016 Puls Contemporary Ceramics, Brussels, Belgium
2015 Inside Out, Brutto Gusto Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany
2013 Ipek Kotan: New Works, Beaux Arts Gallery, Bath, England
2011 Ausstellung Nr. 19: Ipek Kotan, Galerie Bollhorst, Freiburg, Germany

COMMISSIONS

2019 Cartier, commissioned by Atelier 27 Paris for Cartier, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2013 Presidential Art Collection, commissioned by the art advisor to the First Lady, Ankara, Turkey
2012 Barneys New York, commissioned by Barneys New York, New York, United States

ONGOING REPRESENTATION

Adrian Sassoon, London, England
Pucker Gallery, Boston, United States

OTHER SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2021 Open Craft, Open Mind Art Space, Los Angeles, United States
2021 Glaze Test, Galerie Handwerk, Munich, Germany
2019 Decorex, Olympia, London, England
2019 Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2019 World Craft Council European Craft Show, Kuwait City, Kuwait
2018 PAD London, represented by Adrian Sassoon, London, England
2018 Sogo Museum of Art, Yokohama, Japan
2018 Masterpiece London, represented by Adrian Sassoon, London, England
2017 International Ceramics Competition, Mino, Japan
2017 M.17, Museum of Applied Arts, Frankfurt, Germany 
2017 PAD London, represented by Adrian Sassoon, London, England
2017 Revelations, represented by swissCeramics, Paris, France
2016 Contemporary Istanbul, represented by ECNP Galeri, Istanbul, Turkey
2016 European Ceramics and Glass Triennial, Mons, Belgium
2016 Modern Classics, Westerwald Museum, Höhr-Grenzhausen, Germany
2016 Ceramic Art London, Central Saint Martins, London, England
2015 Craft and Makers, Galerie Johanssen, Berlin, Germany
2015 Ceramic Art London, Royal College of Art, London, England
2014 SOFA Chicago, represented by Armaggan Gallery, Chicago, United States
2014 Vase, Vessel, Void, Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
2014 Ceramic Art London, Royal College of Art, London, England
2013 Parcours Céramique Carougeois, Carouge, Switzerland
2013 Mechtild Lobish, Ipek Kotan & Thomas Bohle, Galerie Franz Epple, Tuerkheim, Germany
2013 Ceramic Inspirations, Bavarian State Archeological Museum, Munich, Germany
2013 Modern Masters, Galerie Handwerk, Munich, Germany
2012 Contemporary Craft & Design, Sarah Myerscough Fine Art, London, England
2012 SOFA Chicago, represented by Armaggan Gallery, Chicago, United States
2012 Grassimesse, Grassi Museum, Leipzig, Germany
2012 International Turned Wood & Ceramics, Sarah Myerscough Fine Art, London, England
2011 Vierundzwanzig zwoelf, Galerie Eva Maisch, Wuerzburg, Germany
2009 British Ceramics Biennial, Stoke-on-Trent, England

AWARDS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

2017 Mino International Ceramic Competition, finalist, Mino, Japan
2017 Westerwald Ceramics Museum, Modern Classics Competition, finalist, Westerwald Germany
2014 Turkish Cultural Foundation, Cultural Exchange Fellowship, Washington D.C., United States
2016 Turkish Cultural Foundation, Cultural Exchange Fellowship, Washington D.C., United States

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

2023 Leidsch Dagblad “Perfectie in Hoogste Graad”, The Netherlands, January, p. 11
2023 Oksijen “Kaselerin Icine Dunyalari Sigdiriyor”, Turkey, January, p. 2
2021 Leidsch Dagblad “Ipek Kotan, Turkije”, The Netherlands, October, p. 10-11
2021 Vogue “Topraktan Göge”, Turkey, September, p. 200
2021 Maison Francaise “Zamansiz Formlar”, Turkey, September, p. 31
2020 Klei “Ipek Kotan:  Minimalistische porseleinen kommen”, Netherlands, July-August, p. 40-42
2017 New Ceramics “Pure Vessel: on ceramist Ipek Kotan”, Germany, September-October, p. 32-34
2017 Harper’s Bazaar Arabia Interiors “The Urge to Create”, United Arab Emirates, March, p. 48-49
2016 All Decor “Zamandan Bagimsiz Isler”, Turkey, September-October, p. 168-169
2016 Talking Ceramics by Monika Auch. The Netherlands, June 2016, p. 150-153
2015 Art Aurea “The Beauty Inside”, Germany, winter, p. 38-45
2015 Cfile Online “Ipek Kotan: Mining Gold”, Crowe, Justin. Garth Clark. 6 August 2015. Web. 
2014 Ceramic Review “The Beauty of the Bowl”, Lokau, Walter H.  England, July-August, p. 30-35
2012 Harper’s Bazaar Arabia Interiors “Editor’s Choice”, United Arab Emirates, May-June, p.25
2012 House Beautiful “Rafinelik Duygusu”, Turkey, April, p. 96, p. 98, p. 100
2011 Maison Francaise “Icimdekileri Seramigin Diliyle Anlatiyorum”, Turkey, April, p. 92-93

RELATED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2016 Resident Artist, European Ceramic Work Centre (EKWC), Oisterwijk, The Netherlands 
2015 Resident Artist, European Ceramic Work Centre (EKWC), Oisterwijk, The Netherlands 
2014 Resident Artist, Fondation Bruckner, Geneva, Switzerland 
2013 Resident Artist, European Ceramic Work Centre (EKWC), 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands 
2008 Teaching Assistant, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, United States