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.
