From the desire to share these new creations with the world came the idea in 2018 to produce these unique pieces with Serax.
This marked the start of a respectful collaboration that has seen Ann, from her workshop in Belgium, having to show workers in China, where porcelain originates, the correct techniques for realizing her ideas. In order to teach gradient painting or progressive shading in the Dé series, Ann sent films of her own technique to China, along with the right brushes. Beyond any technical process, it was a ritual of light and shadow that was, for once, transmitted from West to East.
The result of these processes is a variety of Ann Demeulemeester collections, including porcelain tableware, glass and cutlery. They are equal parts sculpture and functional object. Setting a table becomes a ritual in which individual decisions can be made freely, for each guest. Something as universal as eating and drinking is given new impetus in Ann Demeulemeester's formal language, so familiar from her earlier work: in these collections, she activates the same tension between fragility and power, and light and shadow: poetry on the table.
