The documented relationship between ceramic art and typography can be traced from the creation of Sumerian tablets dating from 8000 B.C., to contemporary artworks. Due to clay’s malleability, it is conducive to the creation of letters and signs. Moreover, since its durability increases with firing, the medium can preserve written information for a long time. Ceramic objects and typography can come together as a means of communication and information transfer that are a means of artistic self-expression.
At present, ceramics with textural and surface typographic elements feature various techniques. This article reflects upon contemporary Turkish ceramic artists who use typography in their work. The analysis includes classifications such as the legibility of typographic characters, the content of the writing, and textural and surface effects on ceramic surfaces. On some objects writing conveys information. The anatomical structure of objects also influences the composition of letters.
Consideration of the history of writing reveals that it has, on occasion, intersected with ceramics. Writing has emerged variously in many cultures – ranging from the cuneiform script on Sumerian clay tablets to Egyptian hieroglyphs; and from Chinese calligraphy to Islamic calligraphy – and has been applied to ceramic forms in numerous ways. Writing is not only a means of transferring knowledge – typography is also an attempt to create art through writing and remains popular among contemporary Turkish ceramic artists as well.
I introduce a piece by Ismail Hakki Oygar as my first example of how scripts are used in contemporary Turkish ceramic art. As in Oygar’s vase we see free calligraphy brush movements in the ceramic works of Zehra Çobanlı. In these compositions, which are from the artist’s Blue Period, she uses abstract calligraphy to create exemplary pieces in which writing and contemporary ceramic art come together.
Sevim Cizer, who likewise uses writing elements – verses and inscriptions on headstones – and transfers them using openwork through which the writing element acquires a new dimension as a part of the form (Okur 2007, s.125).
In addition to abstract compositions based on calligraphy, Chinese calligraphy is also applied to ceramic surfaces, due to
