Untitled Bowl with Infinity Loop

About Untitled Bowl with Infinity Loop

This contemporary ceramic black bowl that features an infinity loop is by Steven Heinemann.

The distinctive aesthetic of master ceramicist Steven Heinemann has attracted an international audience—critics and collectors alike.
For decades, the Canadian artist has investigated the concept of ‘containment’ and often used the ancient form of the vessel or bowl to explore that idea. Working with clay, he uses ‘slip cast moulding’—a technique that is used for shapes that cannot be easily built on a potter’s wheel.
By building up fine layers of clay and allowing each one to dry, he attains incredible textures and variations in the surface as they naturally shrink and crack. This has become Heinemann’s signature in his decades-long exploration of minimalist form, colour and texture. The exterior of this oval-shaped bowl is a flat black—a dramatic contrast to the interior’s surface, which is cracked, highly textured and deep blue in colour. The infinity loop seen in the base of the interior is a mathematical concept that is also considered to be a spiritual symbol representing the idea of rebirth.

“Generally, my work often falls into 2 streams that stem from either looking down (at the earth or the land) or up (the daytime or nighttime sky). As expected, clay can readily evoke its earthly nature, but no less so the ethereal and insubstantial.” Steven Heinemann

“Steven is trying to work out these incredibly demanding concepts: What is form? What is an object? What is a sphere? How do they relate to space?” 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.