Sarah Heitmeyer - Artaxis.org

These tiles are slip cast and hang on custom 3D printed hardware. The plaster molds were cast around 3D printed prototypes. The prototypes were designed in Rhino and Grasshopper, applying patterns to photographs of water.

Sarah Heitmeyer - "Beyond Knowing Tides"
2016, 36"W x 36"H x2"D, Media: Porcelain, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Glazed
These tiles are slip cast and hang on custom 3D printed hardware. The plaster molds were cast around 3D printed prototypes. The prototypes were designed in Rhino and Grasshopper, applying patterns to photographs of water.

These forms were slip cast. The plaster molds were cast around 3D printed prototypes. The prototypes were designed in Rhino referencing Islamic patterns.

Sarah Heitmeyer - "Hexa Collection from Garden (Feast) of Paradise"
2018, 36"W x 36"H x 8"H, Media: Porcelain, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Glazed
These forms were slip cast. The plaster molds were cast around 3D printed prototypes. The prototypes were designed in Rhino referencing Islamic patterns.

The tiles were created by pressing clay onto molds and handbuilding walls and a support structure on the back. I create my molds by using a CNC to carve them, or 3D print prototypes that I cast plaster molds around. My designs are created in Rhino by using a heightfield image, translating a photograph into virtual surfaces that I digitally sculpt into tile forms.

Sarah Heitmeyer - "Changing Levels"
2022, 40"W x 40"H x 2"D, Media: Stoneware, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Glazed
The tiles were created by pressing clay onto molds and handbuilding walls and a support structure on the back. I create my molds by using a CNC to carve them, or 3D print prototypes that I cast plaster molds around. My designs are created in Rhino by using a heightfield image, translating a photograph into virtual surfaces that I digitally sculpt into tile forms.

These tiles are slip cast. I create my molds by 3D printing prototypes that I cast plaster molds around. My designs are created in Rhino by using a heightfield image, translating a photograph into virtual surfaces that I digitally sculpt into tile forms. The tiles hang above archival print photographs.

Sarah Heitmeyer - "And Then There's You"
2016, 48"H x 144"W x 1"D, Media: Mixed Media, Porcelain, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Glazed
These tiles are slip cast. I create my molds by 3D printing prototypes that I cast plaster molds around. My designs are created in Rhino by using a heightfield image, translating a photograph into virtual surfaces that I digitally sculpt into tile forms. The tiles hang above archival print photographs.

The tiles were created by pressing clay onto molds. I create my molds by using a CNC to carve them, or 3D print prototypes that I cast plaster molds around. My designs are created in Rhino by using a heightfield image, translating a photograph into virtual surfaces that I digitally sculpt into tile forms.

Sarah Heitmeyer - "Water Symmetry Studies"
2021, 24"W x 24"H x 0.5"D, Media: Stoneware, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Glazed
The tiles were created by pressing clay onto molds. I create my molds by using a CNC to carve them, or 3D print prototypes that I cast plaster molds around. My designs are created in Rhino by using a heightfield image, translating a photograph into virtual surfaces that I digitally sculpt into tile forms.

Sarah Heitmeyer - "Tidal Pools Triptych"
2021, 12"H x 36"W x 0.5"D, Media: Stoneware, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze, Glazed
The tiles were created by pressing clay onto molds. I create my molds by using a CNC to carve them, or 3D print prototypes that I cast plaster molds around. My designs are created in Rhino by using a heightfield image, translating a photograph into virtual surfaces that I digitally sculpt into tile forms.

Sarah Heitmeyer - "Blue Velvet Water Tile"
2016, 36"W x 36"H x 1"D, Media: Porcelain, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Glazed
These tiles are slip cast. I create my molds by 3D printing prototypes that I cast plaster molds around. My designs are created in Rhino by using a heightfield image, translating a photograph into virtual surfaces that I digitally sculpt into tile forms.

Sarah Heitmeyer - "Reduce Me to Silence"
2016, 60"H x 60"W x 2"D, Media: Porcelain, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Glazed
These tiles are slip cast. I create my molds by 3D printing prototypes that I cast plaster molds around. My designs are created in Rhino by using a heightfield image, translating a photograph into virtual surfaces that I digitally sculpt into tile forms. This piece hangs on custom 3D printed hardware.

The tiles were created by pressing clay onto molds and altering by hand. I create my molds by using a CNC to carve them, or 3D print prototypes that I cast plaster molds around. My designs are created in Rhino by using a heightfield image, translating a photograph into virtual surfaces that I digitally sculpt into tile forms.

Sarah Heitmeyer - "Symmetry Meditation - Northwest Creek, NC"
2022, 25"W x 25"H x 0.5"D, Media: Stoneware, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze, Glazed
The tiles were created by pressing clay onto molds and altering by hand. I create my molds by using a CNC to carve them, or 3D print prototypes that I cast plaster molds around. My designs are created in Rhino by using a heightfield image, translating a photograph into virtual surfaces that I digitally sculpt into tile forms.

Sarah Heitmeyer - "Sky Water I"
2020, 16"W x 24"H x 0.5"D, Media: Stoneware, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Glazed, Relief
The tiles were created by pressing clay onto molds. I create my molds by using a CNC to carve them, or 3D print prototypes that I cast plaster molds around. My designs are created in Rhino by using a heightfield image, translating a photograph into virtual surfaces that I digitally sculpt into tile forms.

website resume contact

Artist Statement

“I return to the water’s edge to feel my mind empty before me. Water gives form to a swell of intentions, released to drift and find resonance with the tide.”

I have always been fascinated with watching rippling currents of water and looking for patterns within them. Soft fascinations in nature, such as moving clouds, leaves or water, give our eyes something to focus on so our mind can wander and rest. My work intends to capture the restorative power of nature by distilling the patterns of movement into channels for thought.

I create dimensional landscapes in wall tile completed by the magic of ceramic chemistry. Single tiles, pairs or larger installations are reflections on my experience of beauty. I study how we perceive sublime moments in nature and how specific design elements can elicit a cognitive and visceral response. There is something about a fading horizon, gradients of color, and slowly changing forms in clouds or the tide that is universally calming. I play with combining these elements in compositions and add mirrored images or tessellating patterns. These visual layers challenge our perception of space and narrative and add another dimension for your eyes to meander through in a soft meditation.

Bio

Sarah Heitmeyer received national recognition through an emerging artist award from the National Council on Education of the Ceramic Arts in 2019.She received her MFA at the State University of New York at New Paltz and BFA from Alfred University. She completed a post baccalaureate program at Colorado State University, residencies at Flower City Pottery in Rochester, NY and the Wellsville Creative Arts Center in Wellsville, NY, and an internship at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village, CO.Sarah exhibits her work nationally, including at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, PA, Radius Gallery in Missoula, MT, the Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, NY, the Page Bond Gallery in Richmond, VA, the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, MT, the Dorsky Museum of Art in New Paltz, NY, Pewabic Tile in Detroit, MI, Carbondale Clay Center in Carbondale CO, the Garage Gallery in Beacon, NY, and Peekskill Clay Studios in Peekskill NY.She has worked for ceramic studios such as KleinReid, Kala Stein Design, ModCraft Tile, and Fall Kill Creative Works, as well as in digital design and fabrication labs such as the Hudson Valley Additive Manufacturing Center and Polich Tallix.She is an adjunct professor at SUNY New Paltz teaching computer aided design and works in her studio in Fishkill, NY.