Vessel as
Cradle of n_om
2026 -
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Vessel as Cradle of n_om (series)
Introducing Vessel as Cradle of n_om (2026), recent porcelain vessels by Eugene Hön
Written by Eugene Hön & Helene Smits (Africa meets Africa)
20 October 2026
Primarily a ceramist, the artist embraces drawing to narrow the gap between traditional ceramics and digital materialities. He crafts aesthetic solutions by fusing highly detailed ballpoint pen drawings on to self-glazing Parian slip cast clay bodies as digitally printed transfers.
The ceramic statement presented here introduces a new body of work developed after the artist’s investigation of Southern African rock art and particularly San cosmology. The artist draws inspiration from the San spiritual universe as manifested in images painted on the walls of mountain caves, their cracks and crevices. Archaeologist Dr Siyakha Mguni’s publication Termites of the Gods (2015, Wits University Press) was found to be particularly significant to his process.
His new vessel, with digitally printed ceramic transfers of his drawings of five San art images celebrates the iconography of San rock art, its site-specific materiality and “natural modelling” in a reimagined ceramic discourse.
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I am deeply grateful to the judges for selecting this work for the 2026 Clay Awards. This recognition is deeply encouraging and reinforces my commitment to this creative endeavour. The work advances my artistic practice while renewing engagement with the art of our land’s first peoples. Much of this heritage lies in remote, inaccessible locations, leaving it vulnerable to vandalism, destruction and weathering over time.
Through this new body of work, I hope to honour the fading tradition of San rock art and share its cultural significance with a wider audience through an authentic ceramic discourse.
I want to express great thanks to the archive at Michaelis UCT and Professor Siyakha Mguni in particular.
Vessel as Cradle of n_om
PROCESS
