"Disneyland for adults!" - this is how the artist Charlotte Adam describes her guest appearance at the KPM Meistermalerei. In an interview, she tells us what inspired her bespoke collection, how porcelain is different from paper, and why eating can be emotional for her

Artist Charlotte Adam in the KPM Manufactory

For me, KPM means family and tradition. My mother has been collecting KURLAND for as long as I can remember. It was always on our table at Christmas and on holidays, and today, when my sisters and I come home, it is also on our table from breakfast to dinner. That's probably why I'm not really a mix and match fan. I like it when a service is complete. Our family love of KPM has also led to my mother and I attending several workshops at the hands-on factory together, which we really enjoyed!

It's just a different feel, a different surface structure. Whether it's porcelain or ceramic, whether it's fired or not, also makes a difference. At the end of the day, it's just a matter of getting used to it and I enjoy thinking differently. I usually work with brushes and acrylics and now I work with oil and pigments, pen and brush. For me personally, painting porcelain is more illustrative than classic painting.

On the first day, I have to admit, I was incredibly excited. I had a conceptual idea, but I wasn't quite sure what exactly I was going to do - especially since I had no idea how many and which pieces I would be allowed to paint and how much I would be able to create. And then suddenly I was told "Take it with you, just take it with you!" and I had a huge selection, the whole table was full!

And then?

Then it was mainly the conversations with the painters that helped me progress. They had so many helpful tips that got me thinking and inspired me. And then I was suddenly able to develop quite a pace and became relatively quick and I lost my initial "fear of touch". Of course, this was also because I knew that I only had a certain amount of time to finish, so I couldn't think about every line. I then drew rough outlines with a pencil and then learned different techniques. Sometimes I had to fire the pieces in between so that I could hold them safely in my hand. Or also to apply another layer of paint without damaging the other - that means waiting a day before continuing. These are processes that take a certain amount of time and that I hadn't been aware of before.

How would you describe the atmosphere in the painting?

Great! For me it was very special to be welcomed so warmly - and also: it was so nice to sit together with so many women. I always work alone in my studio, so it's been a long time since I've been in a room with other people doing creative work. The atmosphere is very friendly and loving and the smell of the oils and paints creates a very special atmosphere in the rooms.

What was your most beautiful encounter here? Or the most exciting discovery?

Everything. It was like a week in an adult Disneyland for me. Every day something nice happened. Whether it was logistics, production or painting - the human interaction here is very warm. What I will remember most are the personal stories of the painters, who told me about their many years of experience, proudly presented their favorite projects and shared memories from the past. I really enjoyed this exchange.

Culinary art: The currywurst bowl with fries forever

You are a painter, you are known for your large-format interior still lifes and humorous, almost fashionable small formats. But you are also working on another, rather unknown series of pictures that is very close to your heart .

I have been painting emotions with faces for 15 years. The series developed from an abstract self-portrait. The pictures have no name and, in contrast to the interior pictures that were painted over weeks, they are created very quickly and expressively. Sometimes they take ten minutes, sometimes two hours, but rarely longer than half a day. They are snapshots that I cannot linger on for any longer; thinking about them would ruin them. These emotions also play a role in the KPM objects.

You called your collection "Eating Emotions".

Yes, because it was ultimately similar with the porcelain. As I said, the time pressure made the work more illustrative, more expressive. These are expressions that I stored in my mind and then transferred to the porcelain. Even if at first you might just think: aha, a gherkin. With the term emotional eating, from which I derive "eating emotions", I associate food that is not only consumed to satisfy the actual hunger for food. For example, eating dinner with friends and family, where a whole host of different emotions appear at the table. But also eating out of frustration, as is known when you are heartbroken, for example.

Your pieces have a front and a back. If you turn them over, you can read little statements on the bottom like "I like Dish" or "I miss Dish".

Dish is English for dish. Emotions are given expression and you can literally take them in with the help of the porcelain. You don't deny yourself the emotion, but internalize it, ideally consciously and with enjoyment. In doing so, you can perhaps transform negative emotions into something positive. Without over-aestheticizing the whole thing. But this creates a process, something that I can make friends with and make peace with. Something that I can also look at with a certain wink and reflect on it in a humorous, aesthetic way.

"Any emotion can appear whenever it wants. It is a surprise because it is written on the back," reveals the artist.

Charlotte Adams ' "Eating Emotions" series was created as part of a residency and initially consists only of individual pieces that can be requested from the artist or commissioned bespoke.

More from Charlotte Adam on Instagram .