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HELGA RITSCH
STUDIO ZURICH
Minervastrasse 9
8032 Zurich
Fri, 12-6 and by appointment
STUDIO SOAZZA
Stradòn 26
6562 Soazza/GR
by appointment
EXHIBITIONS
KYOTO, Japan
Oct 9 – 17, 2021
Black porcelain tea bowl. A small treasure. August 2020. Handthrown. With the black thread. SOLD
Black porcelain summer bowls. August 2020. Handthrown. With the black thread. One of the bowls at the left is AVAILABLE. All others are sold
Green craquele stoneware summer bowls. July 2020. Three sizes, three shapes. Handthrown. All SOLD.
Black porcelain summer bowls. August 2020: Three sizes. Three shapes. Handthrown. With the black thread. One bowl (right one) is AVAILABLE. All others are sold.
Scene in my mountain studio house and showrooms in Soazza/GR: Visits any time by appointment.
Scene in one of the rooms of my studio house in Soazza/GR: The northern room on the first floor. August, 2020.
Scene in my mountain studio house and showrooms in Soazza/GR: Visits any time by appointment.
My studio and showroom in Zurich, city - Minervastrasse 9 - 8032 Zurich - Switzerland. Visits Friday 12-6 and any time by appointment
My studio house and showroom Soazza/GR - Stradòn 26 - 6562 Soazza - Switzerland . Visits any time by appointment
Group exhitibion in SEOUL at Lee Eugean Gallery, October 2-26 2019. All works areSOLD
Tokyo Solo exhibition 2019. ALL WORKS SOLD.
Green craquele stoneware summer bowls. July 2020. Three sizes, three shapes. Handthrown. SOLD
Green craquele stoneware summer bowls. July 2020. Three sizes, three shapes. Handthrown. SOLD
'HOPELESS: It is over'. Group of work, 2019. AVAILABLE
'HOPE: the summer will definitely come back'. Group of work, 2019. AVAILABLE
'follow your red thread'. Part of the 'corona-edition'. 2020. Group of 6 vessels. All hand thrown. White and with the red thread. H from 16cm to 19.5cm, d from 12cm to 16cm. With a hand written booklet and photos. Available as a group, no individual works.
Tokyo Solo exhibition 2019. SOLD
Tokyo Solo exhibition 2019. SOLD
Tokyo Solo exhibition 2019. SOLD
Tokyo Solo exhibition 2019. SOLD
GENEVA Nov 7, 2019- Gallery Ormond Editions
Wide black bowl, matte, with the black thread. One of a kind piece. 2020. Hand thrown from stoneware. Object. SOLD
Green bowl. One of a kind piece. 2020. Hand thrown from stoneware. Object. SOLD
Zürich 2020. Teabowls. Stoneware. ALL SOLD
Iron black brown bowlplates. 2020. Handthrown from stoneware. ALL SOLD
Iceblue bowls. 2020. Hand thrown from stoneware and coated with a craquele glaze. With a blue thread. Four small one and a big one SOLD
Zürich 2019. SOLD
Object 'red'. Handthrown from stoneware. 2020. SOLD
Tokyo Solo exhibition 2019. SOLD
'HOPELESS' - this opening will never come back. Group of work. For my Tokyo Solo exhibition 2019. SOLD
Tokyo Solo exhibition 2019. SOLD
Tokyo Solo exhibition 2019. SOLD
Tokyo Solo exhibition 2019. SOLD
MY WORK – I am working with porcelain and stoneware and make hand thrown vessels:
The main focus of my work lies in finding soulful vessels with charisma, which are able to create atmosphere and mood. Whether as an individual piece or as a group of works – I try to find forms, details and surfaces that irritate, sometimes enchant, also make you think and burn into your memory.
For this to hopefully succeed, I need time – sometimes a lot of time: I work slowly, destroy a lot, start all over again. Fractions belong to my path, as do the unexpected and the unconventional.
Anyone who can endure this is right with me.
MY WAY – Born in Switzerland: I started my work as an independent ceramic artist in 1998.
Member of the Swiss Ceramics Association ‘swissceramics‘
2001-2006: Apprenticeship for ceramist
1989-1995: University of Zurich: Art History/German Philology/Philosophy (today M.A.)
1987-1989: ETH Zurich: Architecture Department (today B.A.)
MY THREAD – Many people ask about the meaning of the thread that I have been using for more than fifteen years. Ronnie Watt, art historian, Canada, wrote (s. press): .
..‘A signature decorative element which she regularly applies is a length of cotton thread which is looped through a fine hole and over the rim. The red thread is a reference to the German expression ‘der rote Faden des Erzählens’ which can be translated as ‘following your destiny’. With this leitmotiv, explains Ritsch, she ‘brings things together’ and that ‘my works are different, but the red thread holds them together’. At the same time it ‘stitches’ her works to her personal life experiences and philosophy. As a powerful albeit fragile decorative element, the thread is a visual and intellectual accent for a work but is simultaneously integral to that form because it is anchored in it.
And in my words:
Irgendwie möchte ich meine Arbeiten zusammenhalten, daran erinnern, woher sie stammen, wer sie gemacht hat – sie sind ja weltweit verstreut, der Faden hält sie symbolisch zusammen, denke ich zumindest…..
Das textile Element gibt meinen Werken auch etwas Unerwartetes, vielleicht Irritierendes und das gefällt mir.
Nicht zuletzt kann mit dem Faden der Arbeit eine Richtung im Raum gegeben werden: Das Stück wirkt jedes Mal leicht anders, je nachdem wohin der Faden zeigt.
Mit dem Faden ist es mir auch möglich, ganz am Ende des Prozesses, also nach dem letzten Brand, mein Werk endlich fertig in die Hand zu nehmen und eine letzte Geste zu platzieren, es für meine Begriffe vollendet zu machen – und dann zu entlassen.
Und jetzt nach all den Jahren ist er wohl zu einer Art Markenzeichen geworden – unbeabsichtigt.
helga ritsch, zurich, 2020