January 9 - February 11, 2024

McKelvey Charitable Fund Gallery

Reception Saturday, January 13, 5-7pm

Ariana Heinzman is a ceramic based artist, creating sculpture, wall works, and functional objects that blend floral imagery, utilitarian vessels, and the body. Her work represents the dueling desires of succumbing to nature and controlling it.  However, distressing these conflicting desires can be, the work honors the beauty of life with joyful patterns and forms that celebrate nature and human ingenuity.

Heinzman creates quickly and intuitively, keeping her hand in her work. This direct process captures the urgency and joy of making and acknowledges the agency of the materials. The raw clay retains memory and reacts to Heinzman’s touch. Forms are coil built and smoothed by hand. Each layer in turn defines the path of the next. Pigmented slip is applied in layers with brushes in gestural strokes forming bold lines and patterns. Form and surface are used to build illusion. There is a contrast between the naked clay body - soft and imperfect - and the bold, graphic finishing adornments. 

Heinzman sees her vessels as a stand-in for the figure. Her forms embrace the utilitarian nature of pottery while also comparing it to forms in nature and the body. Various art movements and genres have influenced and developed Heinzman’s process. These include traditional folk art and craft, specifically Pennsylvanian German Fraktur. Other influences include the graphic arts and intersections of craft and fine art throughout history, notably William Morris.

Ariana Heinzman received her BFA in Ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2013. She has exhibited at the Vashon Center for the Arts and Pottery Northwest and has work in the Seattle University Collection. Heinzman was featured in The Seattle Times and as an Emerging Artist in Ceramics Monthly Magazine and published in Pottery Making Illustrated in 2021. Heinzman lives and works on Vashon Island in Washington and is currently represented by J.Rinehart Gallery in Seattle Washington.

Ariana Heinzman was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and currently lives and works on Vashon Island in Washington. Her work represents the dueling desires of succumbing to nature and controlling it. She creates functional objects, sculpture, and tiles that blend floral imagery, utilitarian vessels, and the body.

Each form begins with a slab of clay. From there, coils are layered to shape the form. The coils are smoothed and left to partially dry. Once leather-hard, the leaf shape is cut. Smaller works have been slip-cast from forms made this way. The pieces are bisque fired, then using underglazes and glazes, the patterns are layered onto the form by hand using brushes. Extra layers are necessary for bolder color. The piece is then fired to full temperature (cone 6).

Although the outside of the form is left with a matte finish, the pigment has been fired to full temperature and therefore can get wet and will not fade in the sun. There is risk in leaving ceramic pots in the elements during freezing temperatures, however the clay used has an absorption rate of 2.5% or less, well below the standard for outdoor ceramics.

Similar to wood, scuffs or marks can appear on the surface overtime. A thin layer of oil can be applied to brighten the surface.