The Frenchman Claude Champy (*1944) brings together man and the cosmos in his ceramics. In his studio, mechanical, geological, and chemical processes fuse to form a ceramic total work of art—guided by the barely visible yet influential human gesture. Despite the ceramicist wishing to capture the great forces of the universe in his work, he consciously consigns this part to trial and error, to an intentional loss of control, relying instead on the inherent logic of the material and fire. In Stardust Champy permits insights into his studio practice, his more recent artworks, and his work philosophy by providing commentary on his own sculptures and having them contextualized by experts. What results is a personal book on a unique artist, a retrospective on an oeuvre that is as powerful as it is elemental.

Text in English and French.