Harriet Hellman MRSS

Harriet is primarily a process-led ceramic artist working in response to environment and landscape. After completing her  MA in Ceramics and Glass at the Royal College of Art in 2020, she has gone on to exhibit her work internationally and has been awarded ceramic residencies in Denmark, UK, Ireland and Japan. She was also shortlisted for the Sustainability First Art Prize 2021.

The ceaseless cycle of nature, and a consciousness of deep time is embedded in her making, both physically and emotionally. Her work records her interactions with unfired clay in nature while trying to capture thought, place, space and time. The physicality of the coastline embeds itself in the clay, layering a new narrative, capturing the energy of the moment. The process of layering, tearing and building with clay creates a visceral response, which is both immediate, performative and meditative.

The process of wood firing using Anagama and soda kilns while on residencies in Denmark and Japan has taken Harriet on a new journey allowing her to embrace the alchemy of the kiln and develop her practice. She continues to explore ‘human’ time versus ‘deep’ time in nature, through embodied and performative making practices in ceramics, drawing, photography and film.