A Fragile Existence – Ceramic Sculptures by Danish Artist Heidi Hentze

I’m sure any creative can relate to this. What starts off as an initial obsession later becomes less important as you search for meaning in your work. In my journey with ceramic the outer form in the early years was one of my main points of focus, this slowly shifted to the inner walls. I think there’s something spiritual about the inner as there’s a natural push pull relationship with the outer that has to take place in order to achieve a well rounded object. The inner portion also dictates the shadows which I find to be key in the overall perception of a piece.

Danish ceramic artist Heidi Hentze has been experimenting with this phenomenon with her connecting vessels that play on the translucency of porcelain. Texture and varying height all play a part, but the inner shadows spanning across create this mysterious ripple effect that Heidi has coined “An ambience of fragile existence” thanks to the crumbling side walls and jagged edges.

I find this kind of artwork most intriguing. As a designer there’s always going to be an addition and then a long process of subtraction, something that Heidi no doubt also goes through as she shaves down the walls and starts to deconstruct to create a unique atmosphere. This real wonder comes in the latter part of the process and warns us all that we need to progress past the first stage before we see any real progress in our work. It’s a long journey but one worth sticking out. Here are pieces from Heidi’s portfolio that I really admired, more works like this can be found on her portfolio linked below.

heidihentze.dk

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