Seven Story Mountain

About Seven Story Mountain

This sculptural wall-mounted vessel is by Steven Heinemann.

For decades, the sublime artwork of Steven Heinemann has challenged the traditional boundaries of ceramic art. Internationally recognized as a superb artist, Steven Heinemann has, among other accolades, attained Canada’s highest award for achievement in contemporary craft—the prestigious Saidye Bronfman Award. The Canadian artist’s oeuvre is singularly distinctive, and he is known for exploring a unique visual language informed by nature.
This is one of an ongoing series of vessel forms he created, designed to be wall-mounted. They explore “the sculptural elements of pottery--the 3d side of ceramics.” The elegant form of this raindrop-shaped piece is enhanced by the use of a historical opaque white glaze. Intricate patterns that appear as mountain landscapes in red, blue and black overlap and flow down the face of the work. The title, Seven Story Mountain, was inspired by the famous 1948 autobiography of Thomas Merton that tells the story of his spiritual journey as a young Trappist Monk and priest.

“Instead of seeking a stable ground on which to apply decoration, I developed a fluid, unstable glaze to allow the pattern (in this case, stock commercially available transfers) to flow after application, during the firing. The title is a reference to Merton (an important figure for me in early days), but the resulting flows also evoke for me mythic mountain landscapes.” Steven Heinemann

“His ceramics—sometimes intimate, other times monumental—operate on a metaphorical level, serving as touchstones at once connecting and undermining our interaction with plants, animals, and ancient spirits.”
Dr. Rachel Gotlieb, curator and historian

Steven Heinemann earned an MFA from Alfred University, NY, in 1983 and has taught in Canada and the US. Heinemann has exhibited continuously since his first solo exhibition at the Ontario Crafts Council in 1982. His work is held in museums the world over. Heinemann has received many national and international awards.