ANNETTE JANELLE

HARDSOFT

debut solo exhibition

August 23rd - September 14th, 2025

Opening Reception: First Friday, September 5th • 5-9pm​

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Arch Enemy Arts presents HARDSOFT, the debut solo feature by ceramic artist Annette Janelle. Annette makes functional porcelain ceramics—anthropomorphic mugs, vases, wall pocket-vases, and wall-hanging tableaus—that are so delicately detailed they read as sculptural illustrations. For this collection, she’s created twenty-seven whimsical characters that are, first, thrown on the wheel then hand-carved, sculpted, and painted in layers of watercolor-like underglaze. Each piece receives a minimum of three firings in the kiln at high temperatures to fuse all the little minerals in the porcelain and glaze, creating a glass-like, non-absorbent and usable material.  

 

“I am drawn to porcelain for a number of reasons. It’s elevated and refined, makes for an excellent canvas for decorative underglazing, and most crucially, it lets me achieve a great level of fine detail. It certainly has its challenges; high shrink rates and strong molecular memory can cause warping, but knowing the material well enough to work around its limitations is part of what makes it a medium with some level of distinction within the ceramics world.”

 

Annette’s porcelain characters have an earnest playfulness accentuated by the fact that they can actually be used. Whether collectors choose to use them or not, these works underscore how art interacts with our lives. Several pieces have tiny artwork labels next to hand-sculpted miniature ‘works of art’ as a clever, self-referential touch to the artist’s first AEA exhibition. Other pieces include windswept hair, fruit dangling from trees, clouds, and nods to the ever-changing seasons. Each piece carries its own subtle narrative, yet exhibited together, they are tenderly cohesive, like quiet creatures from the same magical little world.  

 

“My favorite thing to do in my work is combine things that are oppositional or just different enough from one another to create an interesting tension. For example, the ephemeral gaseous nature of clouds and atmosphere with the solidity of the human figure. Beyond that, my work has a visual softness to it that contrasts with the stony mineral hardness of porcelain. With elements of nature and humanity blending in and out, HARDSOFT represents my artistic compulsion to capture that which is impossible to contain.”

 

Annette Janelle (b.1992) is based in Payson, Arizona. She has an Associates Degree in Fine Art but considers herself primarily self-taught in the world of ceramics. Annette has cultivated an extremely loyal collector base through self-promoted online releases; however, this is her first major solo with a new-contemporary art gallery. On the flip side, this is our first time producing an exhibition of truly functional fine art over thirteen years and hundreds of exhibitions. We think that speaks to Annette’s inspired expression of this ancient and beautiful medium. 

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HARDSOFT will be on view from August 23rd - September 14th, 2025
Sold works will begin to ship the week starting September 21st, unless other rush shipping arrangements have been made. 

Items marked with a red dot have already been sold.

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