Red Lodge Clay Center – Summer Resident 2023
Heather Lepp received her BFA from the University of Manitoba in 2016. In addition to formal education, she was a studio assistant across North America to four professional potters: Marcelina Salazar, Martin Tagseth, Peter Brondz, and Cathi Jefferson. In 2019 she completed a short-term artist in residence at Medalta in Medicine Hat, Alberta. She received the People’s Choice Award (Best in Show) for her graduation show in 2016, and was awarded the Marilyn Levitt Prize in Functional Ceramics. She has taught at numerous community art centres and exhibited her work across Canada and United States. Currently she is an MFA candidate at West Virginia University.
Heartful gatherings are often centered around the dinner table, and sharing food allows us to cultivate connections with one another. Utilitarian ceramics fosters this connection through communal and personal enjoyment. This motivates me to enrich the experience of nourishment by making functional pottery for daily use. My practice is driven by the search for forms that are a joy to use, and a surface that’s beautiful to look at. I trim all my work by hand, slowly spinning the pot on a banding wheel to create hewn grooves in the clay. Trimming tails, thumbprints, and toolmarks are left intentionally and celebrated. Layers of slip break over the edges of the dark clay to create a surface that appears worn as if well-loved through years of use. These layers of process enhance nourishment by creating a more engaged experience with the work.