---
title: "Olivier Van Herpt explores ‘machine drawing’ in latest 3D printed ceramics"
url: https://www.voxelmatters.com/olivier-van-herpt-explores-machine-drawing-in-latest-3d-printed-ceramics/
date: 2025-04-02
modified: 2025-04-02
lang: en
author: "Tess Boissonneault"
description: "Dutch artist Oliver Van Herpt is a seasoned maker of 3D printer ceramics, having worked with the technology for the past decade to bring a variety of experimental and beautiful..."
categories:
  - "Art"
  - "Ceramics"
  - "Consumer Products"
  - "Design"
tags:
  - "future"
image: https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/van-herpt-1-e1743594810582-488x640.jpg
word_count: 446
---

# Olivier Van Herpt explores ‘machine drawing’ in latest 3D printed ceramics

Dutch artist Oliver Van Herpt is a seasoned maker of 3D printer ceramics, having worked with the technology for the past decade to bring a variety of experimental and beautiful vases and sculptures to life. In 2017, for instance, the artist created a series that [reimagined renowned blue Delftware](https://www.voxelmatters.com/olivier-van-herpt-surprises-3d-printed-white-blue-porcelain/) through a process for 3D printing porcelain — a notoriously challenging medium to work with — with cobalt. His most recent project is a colorful series of 3D printed porcelain that plays with the idea of machine drawing.

[![Olivier Van Herpt Delftware 3D printed](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/3d-printing-porcelain-xl-227x340.jpeg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/3d-printing-porcelain-xl.jpeg)Arcanum, Olivier Van Herpt, 2017 (Image: [Olivier Van Herpt](https://oliviervanherpt.com/))

The new approach leverages Van Herpt's innovative technique for 3D printing porcelain that overcomes the challenges of the material, namely the shrinkage that occurs when drying and firing. In the past, this material behavior has limited 3D printed porcelain to smaller structures, because with the material shrinking up to 30% in the kiln, larger pieces tended to suffer from cracks and even collapses.

[![Olivier Van Herpt 3D printer porcelain](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/building-3d-printer-porcelain-xl-227x340.jpeg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/building-3d-printer-porcelain-xl.jpeg)Porcelain 3D printer (Image: [Olivier Van Herpt](https://oliviervanherpt.com/))

To overcome this, Van Herpt developed a way to better control the drying process for larger 3D printed porcelain structures and uses 3D printed containers (called saggars) to protect the porcelain as it is fired. He also uses [special 3D printer](https://oliviervanherpt.com/dunes/) hardware, with a tall build frame and a fine nozzle for extruding thin walls of porcelain. As he [told](https://hypebeast.com/2025/3/olivier-van-herpt-3d-printed-ceramics-news) *Hypebeast* recently: "Porcelain is generally kept small because it collapses in the firing process, but with this machine, I can make very thin, large pieces that do not collapse."

The latest project uses porcelain as a blank page for designs, which are rendered by the 3D printer to an amazing effect. According to the Dutch artist, the process involves creating a two-dimensional image composed of a white porcelain base and colored porcelain details (in this case, in the shape of a flower). This two dimensional slab is then rolled around a porcelain core and the resulting cylindrical piece of porcelain clay is then fed into the 3D printer, which extrudes the clay in fine filaments, building up a cylindrical vase layer by layer. The final piece pictured measures 63 x 31 cm.

[![Olivier Van Herpt Machine Drawing 2025](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/van-herpt-1-e1743594810582-488x640.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/van-herpt-1-e1743594810582.jpg)

Machine Drawing, Olivier Van Herpt, 2025 (Image: Olivier Van Herpt | Instagram))

[![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/van-herpt-2-1-e1743595185854-488x640.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/van-herpt-2-1-e1743595185854.jpg)

Machine Drawing, Olivier Van Herpt, 2025 (Image: Olivier Van Herpt | Instagram))

The original image is translated into something quite special: a porcelain vase with a less distinctive, almost impressionistic flower design. This multi-step creation process is seen by Van Herpt as a sort of collaboration between the human artist and the 3D printer machine. As he said: "Instead of silently obeying code, the approach is the opposite. Both human and machine take part in the creation and ideation of the final result, impacting how it looks.”