Regina Heinz @ Broomhill

The Artist Speaks

“Originally trained as a painter at the academy of fine arts in Vienna, Regina Heinz discovered working with clay a few years ago as an expansion and enrichment of her previous work. She studied Ceramics in Vienna, Geneva and London, where she has been living since 1989.

“Fascinated by the softness and malleability of wet clay, Regina has developed a special slab building technique to construct free standing sculptures and relief pieces for wall hanging. Slabs are rolled out and then 'tailored': joined, pushed, folded, stretched and incised until the piece has taken on its final shape and expression, yet the material has retained its original softness and surface texture.

“Painting and form cohabit in both, wall pieces and freestanding sculptures.

“As images they have preserved the square shape of the canvas but are shaped into three-dimensional objects, intended to enclose space like a 'skin'. Coloured glazes, slips and oxides are painted on in thin layers. They are designed to emphasize the underlying form and to accent the softness of wet clay. The quality of the clay surface adds a new and sensual dimension. The pieces become 'tangible' pictures, aiming to unify colour and form.

“Although the ideas come from landscapes, bird's eye views, topographical qualities of the surface of the earth, the pieces are abstract and evocative. The motifs are reduced and distilled, taking on meanings, associations, messages beyond literal representation.

“They encourage to contemplate, to interpret, to scan memories and to be experienced not only intellectually but with all senses”.

Technical Notes

Regina Heinz has developed a special slab building technique that emphasises the softness and tactile qualities of the material.

Clay is rolled out by hand on newspaper to enrich the surface with cracks, stretch marks and imprints of creases in the paper. While still soft, the slabs are either shaped over chicken wire to make relief-pieces for wall hanging or joined and 'tailored' to construct free-standing sculptural forms. The final shape and expression of the pieces are achieved by stretching, pushing, folding and incising the slabs, yet at the same time retaining and preserving their original surface texture to the highest possible degree.

This technique is paramount to Regina's work and requires both spontaneity and control. The soft slabs react immediately to every touch, every movement of the hand and are easily over-worked and in danger of loosing their elasticity and freshness.

For technical and aesthetic reasons, Regina uses grogged Stoneware clays (e.g. White St. Thomas, Crank). Grog provides tactile and visual texture as well as strength for better control during the forming process. All pieces are high biscuited at 1080°C and then glazed in several thin layers with biscuit slips, oxides, stains and a Lithium glaze.

The colouring is designed to enhance form and texture and to add to the sensual qualities of the pieces. The final effect is the result of multiple firings and highly depends on the number of layers, the consistency and thickness of the glaze, how fast the glaze is brushed on and whether the colours are fired-on between applications or not.

All glaze firings take place in an electrical kiln in an oxidising atmosphere at 1035°C with half an hour's soak. At this temperature the Lithium glaze is under-fired, the Lithium grains just start to melt and create an interesting speckle effect that adds depth and variation to the coloured surface.

Exhibitions

National (selected)

• Broomhill Art Hotel, Barnstaple, Devon - 2003
• Chelsea Crafts Fair, London - 2002
• ART2002, Adrian Sassoon, London - 2002
• Chelsea Crafts Fair, London - 2001
• A Still Point, Midlands Art Centre, Birmingham - 2001
• Made at Rufford, Rufford Ceramic Centre - 2001
• Lemon Street Gallery, Truro - 2001
• ART2001, Adrian Sassoon, London - 2001
• Chelsea Crafts Fair, London - 2000
• Eton Applied Arts, Eton, Windsor - 2000
• ART2000, Adrian Sassoon, London - 2000

International

• Gallery Rooyart, Venray, Netherlands - 2002
• Galerie ArtSpectra, Tulln, Austria - 2002
• Biennale de la Sculpture en Ceramique 2002
• Mamer, Luxembourg - 2002
• Trésor Gallery, West Hartford, CT, USA - 2001
• 52nd International Ceramic Art Competition, Faenza, Italy - 2001
• Handwerksforum, Hanover, Germany - 2001
• Loes & Reinier, Deventer, Netherlands - 2001
• Galerie Handwerk, Munich, Germany - 2001