Mesmerizing Forms From Nature By Turi Heisselberg

Copenhagen-based artist Turi Heisselberg has spent nearly two decades creating ceramic works that explore the character and texture of clay through their mesmerizing forms.

In the series ‘Organic Shapes’ from 2013, Heisselberg’s vessels are expressive and soft in their form. Simple and sculptural, the pieces draw from the qualities inherent to the material and process of working clay, and reference the emotion of nature in their shape. The earthen tones and fluted structures allude to lichen, moss or geological strata—basalt columns, crumbling rock, and worn sandstone. Other pieces evoke cacti, sea sponge and squash in their forms, which are simultaneously abstract and familiar, appearing as if they themselves have sprung from nature. Utilizing rhythmic patterns that appear like topographical maps of something unseen, the asymmetric works are mesmerizing when considered singularly or together as an organic collection.