JEPPE SØNDERGAARD HANSEN
curated by Pil Bredahl
directed by CDA Copenhagen Design Agency
photos by Benjamin Lund
text by Nikolai Kotlarczyk
(02.10-05.10.2025)
"Through a synergy in form and materiality, Jeppe Søndergaard pays homage to the humble brick through Bonds – a continuation from his body of work titled Bonding.(...)Through Søndergaard’s use of negative space, the same structured compositions jump out from the wall when viewed from an angle – each brick outline overlapping and visually intertwining with one-another."
Group exhibition at Nivågaard Teglværks Ringovn
curated byArk Forma
(06.09-28.09.2025)
"The story of the kiln in Nivå begins with its invention by German engineer Friedrich Eduard Hoffmann (1818–1900), whose revolutionary design introduced a continuous firing process that transformed brick production. Recognized for its historical and industrial importance, Nivaagaard Teglværks Ringovn is now a protected heritage site — Denmark’s only surviving circular Hoffmann kiln and one of the few remaining examples worldwide.[...] In dialogue with the building itself, the exhibited works deepen the narrative of material traditions and the enduring presence of the maker’s hand."
_JSH_PhotoCredit_OleAkh%C3%B8j.jpg?etag=undefined&sourceContentType=image%2Fjpeg&ignoreAspectRatio&resize=2500,1667&quality=85 "Forbindelser(Løberforbandt)_JSH_PhotoCredit_OleAkhøj")
"The sculptures in Bonding resemble brick structures – a familiar everyday sight. However, Søndergaard demonstrates how industrially manufactured bricks can exceed their own solid form, for example by dissolving into ceramic glaze. The bricks appear to have been given a second chance to unfold the intrinsic but hidden potential of their materiality and enter into new bonds.
The common theme of the exhibition is bonds, from the ties of human friendship to the regular pattern of overlapping bricks in a wall. Brick bonds not only make for strong structures but also create a coherent visual rhythm."
(2023)_PhotoCredit_Ole%20Akh%C3%B8j.JPG?etag=undefined&sourceContentType=image%2Fjpeg&ignoreAspectRatio&resize=2500,2500&quality=85 "Jeppe Søndergaard Hansen_UNKNOWN::UNCANNY#2(Solbjerg Cemetery, Light B")
"Jeppe Søndergaard Hansen’s objects speak mainly through their tactile qualities. The pieces in the exhibition have their origin in excursions around Copenhagen where Søndergaard collects recycled bricks from demolished buildings. To Søndergaard, the bricks represent the building blocks of society’s foundation – a familiar and humble element whose role in contemporary construction is a far cry from what it once was. In Søndergaard’s works, the bricks are transformed and take on a new, aesthetic purpose. He subjects the bricks to an almost violent process: a ceramic ‘overfiring’, where extreme temperatures make the bricks melt and flow out of their given shape and perhaps back to the nature from whence they came."
_Jeppe%20S%C3%B8ndergaard%20Hansen.jpeg?etag=undefined&sourceContentType=image%2Fjpeg&ignoreAspectRatio&resize=2500,3333&quality=85 "Archaeology of Tomorrow - ASHTRAY (2025)_Jeppe Søndergaard Hansen")
The cigarette is passé, the smoker a dying breed – and the ashtray a relic. This work explores the iconic design where an upside-down flowerpot became a vessel for ash and cigarette butts — an anti-design that, paradoxically, embodies design at its core.
But what remains when function fades? If a broken flowerpot is excavated two centuries from now, will we still recognize the ashtray in its fragments? In these works cigarette butts are embedded in porcelain, glazed and gilded — echoing the gold rings on filters as a luxury made to be discarded. The interior mirrors the warning images from cigarette packs as a reminder of a smoker’s fate.
What remains is memory — fossilized in ceramic, suspended in time. In these objects, we see both the habit and its haunting.
About
Jeppe Søndergaard Hansen (b.1991) is a Copenhagen based ceramisist. He earned his master’s degree at the Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design and Conservation in Copenhagen in 2020 after previously earning a bachelor’s degree from the Academy’s department on Bornholm.
Exhibitions
2026
2025
2025
2025
2025
2025
2024
2024
2021
2020
2019
2018
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The Mindcraft Project
For(m)ever
Craft & Tool
Functional Clay
FORBINDELSER//BONDING (SOLO)
Peach Melba
Ceramic Brussels
Material Manifestations (DUO)
Fragile Monumentalities
Layers & Growths
Systematic Chaos
Gammelgaard, Herlev (DK)
The Lab, Copenhagen (DK)
VÆG Gallery, Aalborg (DK)
Nivaagaards Teglværks Ringovn, Nivå (DK)
3Days of Design, Annemarie Carl-Nielsen Studio, Copenhagen (DK)
Peach Corner, Frederiksberg (DK)
3Days of Design, Frederiksgade1, Copenhagen (DK)
Art Fair, Bruxelles (BE)
Peach Corner, Frederiksberg (DK)
Solutions, Online Exhibition, Royal Danish Academy
Table Talks, Schloss Pillnitz, Dresden (DE)
Material World, Politikens Hus, Copenhagen (DK); CLAY, Middelfart (DK); Bornholms Kunstmuseum, Ry (DK)
Grants & Residencies
2026
2025
2024
2024
2024
2023
2022
2021
Residency
Work Grant
Project Grant
Project Grant
Residency
Work Grant
Work Grant - New Talents
Work Grant - New Talents
Danish Art Workshops, Copenhagen (DK)
Danish Arts Foundation
Danish Arts Foundation
Denmarks Nationalbank's Anniversary Foundation
Danish Art Workshops, Copenhagen (DK)
Danish Arts Foundation
Danish Arts Foundation
Danish Arts Foundation
Education
2020
2018
MA
BA
Ceramic Design
Crafts
Royal Danish Academy.
Royal Danish Academy, Bornholm.
Contact