About the Artist
Cryogenic Cell
I was 12 the first time I saw Star Wars: A New Hope.With the first notes of the opening title and the iconic scrolling text I was interested, as soon as those first ships flew overhead, firing green and red laser bolts I was hooked. As I have aged the reasons I like these films have perhaps not changed, but deepened. I find myself increasingly interested in the design elements of the film; sets, costumes, props, and technology. This interest in the design (more than the characters or story) is what influences my work. I seek to capture the ultra modern look and feel of these films within my own work. I use a combination of techniques: wheel throwing, hand building and slip casting to create the work.
The surface of the work serves as a canvas in which to incorporate shapes that reference the Star Wars monoculture. Employing traditional materials in combination with modern technology, layers of decoration are used to create a depth of imagery in order to investigate repetition, pattern, and line. I am interested in how these formal elements interact. Repetition and pattern as well as symmetry and a-symmetry are explored within the work. The work is just as much about these formal concerns as it is about Star Wars.
Eric Heerspink is a full time potter living and working out of his home studio in Jenison Michigan, just outside of Grand Rapids. He received his BFA in studio art from Calvin College (Grand Rapids, MI) in 2008 and his MFA in ceramics from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE: Edwardsville, Il) in 2015.
The surface of the work serves as a canvas in which to incorporate shapes that reference the Star Wars monoculture. Employing traditional materials in combination with modern technology, layers of decoration are used to create a depth of imagery in order to investigate repetition, pattern, and line. I am interested in how these formal elements interact. Repetition and pattern as well as symmetry and a-symmetry are explored within the work. The work is just as much about these formal concerns as it is about Star Wars.
Eric Heerspink is a full time potter living and working out of his home studio in Jenison Michigan, just outside of Grand Rapids. He received his BFA in studio art from Calvin College (Grand Rapids, MI) in 2008 and his MFA in ceramics from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE: Edwardsville, Il) in 2015.
