Differential Growth (2023)

Press release from exhibition:

The exhibition title, Differential Growth, refers to a biological phenomenon in nature, a particular way in which organic systems take shape: when one part of a cell grows at a different rate than the rest, the organism will develop in different directions, leading to the emergence of complex patterns, surfaces and structures.  

The pieces in the exhibition are the result of a digital algorithm programmed to make the object grow without touching or intersecting any part of itself as it takes form. Hilda Piazzolla designed the algorithm by modifying certain parameters and challenging the shapes through physical restrictions. The ceramic printer creates diverse shapes, which spark associations to coral, brain cortex or twisted tree trunks.  

Piazzolla is fascinated by the dialogue that arises when she influences or intervenes in the digital design process in a search for new expressions in the borderland between digital and tactile, controlled and uncontrolled. This is evident, for example, in her glaze studies, as she applies runny glazes by hand while the printer is operating or by manipulating the firing process to affect the way in which the glaze melts and creates drip-like forms. 

All photos by Ole Akhøj (2023)