Walter Gropius Master Artist - Sarah Heimann

The Huntington Museum of Art’s Walter Gropius Master Artist Program welcomed Sarah Heimann in March 2022 for a three-day workshop and free public presentation about her work in ceramics. An exhibit of work by Heimann will be on view at HMA from Jan. 29 through May 15, 2022

About the Artist

Sarah Heimann is a studio potter in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and an instructor at Dartmouth College’s ceramic studio. Her work has been published in Lark’s 500 Cups, 500 Vases, 500 Teapots, Studio Potter magazine, and Surfaces, Glazes, and Firing by Angelica Pozo. She has been awarded a McKnight Artist Residency, Jerome Artist Project Grant, and a McKnight Artist Fellowship. She has an MFA in Ceramics from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

Artist Statement

"I am a potter. I work with clay, throwing and hand-building pots. I am passion- ate about weight and balance, questions of rim durability, how a foot meets a table. I intend my pieces to live in domestic spaces.
I spend hours with pieces cradled in my lap, raking light allowing me to see curves and planes of the evolving surface. As I carve into the pot, I consider how a ladder might stand in front of a vine, how a moon might overhang a building, and what would happen if a moon was on the ground. I improvise with myself each step of the way, trying to catch myself unawares. What would happen if I did this? Did that work? Is it clumsy? Can I make it more graceful? Does it still stand evenly?

These concerns are fundamental. I believe objects we live with should be made properly. The underside of a handle should be comfortable, curves should be confident. Feet should be well finished. Drawings should make sense within the context of the pot they live on.

When the pots are finished, people are often uncertain of their original material. They recognize time spent, and respond to the surface, but for comprehension, my pieces demand interaction. It is in handling that utilitarian underpinnings are understood. It is in carving that the drawing comes alive, and it is in use that the pieces come alive."