Erika Pekkari

Pot Tolvekarna

Designer Erika Pekkari thinks of her work as vegetation in a landscape of experiences, where ideas grow and sprout. Her love of botany has been around for many years, and she has long experience of designing pots in clay.

“Botany is fantastic, both the graphic and historical part of it, Linnaeus Flora, the name of different species and the vegetation itself. To sow a seed, plant, wait and see something grow – sensuality is part of the whole process. It is living matter that is constantly changing, broken down and recreated again. The vegetation is permissive and poetic, and the plant pots were designed as a concentrated of these aspects.”

“The design itself is simple, practical. The pot has a clear task. It should be but not take over, have a strong shape and at the same time stand back for the plant. In other words, it should be a good partner to the plant or flower that is planted in it. The pot should be able to be used in different ways by different people, and be part of the changing process that belongs to creating a home.”

The choice of colours is a balancing and searching of glazes in the meeting with Svenskt Tenn's colourful world. The pots are made of stoneware at the Porcelain factory in Lidköping. The factory was founded in 2007, resurrecting the historic factory that was closed by Rörstrand in 2005/2006.

Pot Tolvekarna

You stand for the personal

Erika Pekkari loves to press flowers and leaves. To feel the shape and the tactile aspects of the living material. When she created the plant pots for Svenskt Tenn, botany was part of the inspiration, as was the human need to arrange items – to cultivate and develop surroundings with vegetation.

“That's how we shape our environment and create a home. Estrid Ericson said it so well, that our homes are never fully finished, we build on them all our lives. I think the same way. That life is a process, we are constantly evolving, and that philosophy is to me the poetry of everyday life.”

We live in a time when many people can own similar objects, yet our homes do not look the same.

“Every environment, every person's way to arrange and make a home unique and personal. It is you as a person who embodies the personal, not the objects and items you use, and I think that is important to remember. There are many ways to decorate with plant pots and to incorporate vegetation into the home, all based on personality, weather and season. Everything is allowed: try and test your way forward.”

A collage of Pot Tolvekarna

About Erika Pekkari

Designer Erika Pekkari´s starting point was an extensive education in textile and fashion design, ending up between 1984 - 1987 at the Beckmans College of Design. A profound curiosity of how to combine color, form and aesthetics with the industrial production of everyday objects, led her to start working relationships with brands in the field of fashion and further on within interior design.

The commissions have included everything from individual objects to commercial film and interiors as well as design of public spaces. The assignments have led her to work with everything from textiles and glass to metal and wood for a variety of different clients. By expanding her field of interest with post-graduate studies at the Royal University of fine Arts, she has brought an additional layer of cultural references to her works. Today, Erika is based in Stockholm where she combines her time working with interior projects and freelance assignments.

Pot Tolvekarna

Colour is my language and knowledge. Physics. Psychology. Philosophy. Poetry. Colour is situated between art and science. Colour carries messages, it expresses time, reinforces form and sets the tone. Colour is always present and one of the main pillars in what I create. It enriches my artistry, develops my awareness and gives birth to new ideas.

- Erika Pekkari