Meet the Artist

Hi there, I’m Helga. Thank you for spending your precious time here exploring my work. :-)

I’ve loved arts and crafts ever since I can remember—a mixture of compulsion and comfort that has always been with me. In kindergarten, I’d spend playtime making little bowls of rice with the classroom’s modelling clay, fascinated by the rubbery mush between my fingers as I sculpted each individual grain. As a teen, I posted tutorials on the internet, showing other curious makers how to sculpt trinkets and charms. I wrote a book about it, too.

As time went on, reimagining a wad of clay helped me understand how to reimagine my one precious life here on earth. Over and over again, I learned how to start from scratch and create something new, and at the same time, how to step forward into new stages of my own life: one with growing pains, leaps of faith, and the continual search for what feels most true. Working with clay helps me connect with my body, the earth, and the creative spirit.

Deepening my relationship with clay has, by extension, deepened my relationship with myself and the world around me. Through my work, I aim to explore consciousness, the breath, the act of slowing down during a unique age of increasing speed and access at our fingertips, and quiet moments of contemplation where the seeds of change are planted.

In my ceramics practice, each piece is individually hand-built using coil and slab techniques, sanded, and fired multiple times. When you receive a HELGZ sculpture, know you are receiving a one-of-a-kind item.

I hope my creations bring joy into your life and help you tap into moments of peace and meaning, as clay has done for me, over and over again.

Lots of love,

Helga Jiang