Magical, tactile and delightfully wobbly: the world of Janie Korn

Do you ever just look at your kitchen and think – why have all the same white plates from Ikea, stacked on an ugly shelf, sticking out like a cluttered jumble sale, when you could make the dishes an artistic centrepiece that you enjoy looking at (and using every day)? Janie Korn had this exact realisation while looking at her kitchen set-up.

“My kitchen features an eyesore of a plate rack, spanning an entire wall,” she explains. “I started to make my own plates as an attempt to disguise the rack and, with time, I genuinely fell in love with the medium.”

This grisly rack sparked a long-term relationship with ceramics, in which the Midwest-born, now London-based artist has built a portfolio rich with imaginative creations. To date, she’s made one-of-a-kind ceramics that are perfectly wobbly – like a plate which features a painterly nymph character holding a frog, perched atop a lily garden; or a vase with little feet trotting about in Mary-Janes; or cherubs that feature on mugs and goblets.

But that’s not all she makes. Running in tandem is a practice rooted in wax making, which, unlike the practical motivations of her ceramics, was sparked by a desire to lock her creations in the physical space. “I came to wax while I was grappling with the idea of object permanence and wanting a medium that could exist in a more temporary and ephemeral state,” she explains.

This resulted in a bundle of glorious “magic” candles, where you’ll find dressed-up dogs, food items like cakes, Kewpie mayo and corn (or ‘Korn’), toadstools, and friendly-looking cows. Customers can also request their very own bespoke commission of their home, pet, friend or lover – and she also makes cake toppers for those who’d rather decorate than burn their very own Janie Korn creations.

“Since moving to the UK, I’ve felt a strong pull towards older references within the decorative arts,” says Janie of where she finds her inspiration. “I love Staffordshire pottery, and I’m endlessly fascinated by Victorian curiosities, such as preserved hair lockets and fans made out of exotic feathers and ivory.

The sensibilities of the 17th-century home, too. Living in London, I’m lucky to be surrounded by so many fabulous museums that feed this appetite.” You can certainly get a feel for these reference points when you meander through her portfolio – not to mention the undeniable sense of magic that runs throughout. “Candles are inherently ceremonial objects, and I hope viewers can engage with the work through that lens. What is permanent, what do we exalt, how do we reflect?”

When making one of her pieces, she rarely pre-plans and usually dives straight in without any sketches. Instead, she will head to the studio “with a certain spirit or feeling” she’s trying to capture, keeping that in her mind while she chips and whittles away at the clay or wax.

“I also try to stay open to the whims the materials themselves require,” she says. “Wax can be fickle, and clay likes to be treated just so. I have to actually appreciate these limitations, because they push me to weirder and more interesting places.”

Not long ago, in December, Janie travelled to Singapore for her first solo show, Cinque Korn, which was inspired by the centennial anniversary of Alexander Calder’s circus – a miniature kinetic artwork featuring over 200 animals and figures made from wire, fabric, cork and found materials.

A favourite piece from the collection was a wax totem depicting acrobats balanced on each other. “It was technically challenging to construct, and I found myself falling under its spell as I worked,” she says. “The piece stands over a foot and a half in height, and I would have liked to keep building vertically, if not for some shipping limitations.”

Next up, she has an “exciting” unnamed partnership (all be revealed soon), and we can expect a new instalment of wax and ceramic creations, including a series of sculptures inspired by majolica, a tin-glazed earthenware pottery originating from Moorish Spain during the Middle Ages.