‘I am clay’. This statement by the ceramicist Vilma Henkelman (1944-2023) makes it clear how much she identified with this material. Informed by feminism, Henkelman freed clay from connotations of ‘femininity’ and ‘craft’.

Throughout her career, Henkelman employed her extraordinary craftsmanship to test the boundaries between applied art, sculpture and performance art. Her work was years ahead of its time and testifies to an impassioned agenda. The Very Moment is the Kunstmuseum’s tribute to this important Dutch artist.

Experimental and corporeal After a classic start with forms such as vases, plates and dishes, she undertook daring experiments such as a ‘pot shape with six pieces of bone tied with rope’, or a ‘bowl pierced with a bar of reinforcing steel’. Imprints of her body act as a kind of signature in her large, organic objects, as small as her thumbprint or as large as her entire body. Her tactile works are the result of throwing, kneading and pressing, reflecting and bearing witness to the creative process.

The Very Moment A highlight of the exhibition is the group of works entitled The Very Moment, thrown vases as tall as Henkelman herself that she crafted in a meditative state. Before the vases went into the kiln, Henkelman took a machete, dipped it in glaze and used enormous force to slice into them. The glaze splashed over the object, leaving behind a unique pattern. The shape of Henkelman’s body, the strength of her arms and the authenticity of the moment came together, always resulting in a unique object and turning this spiritual, creative process into a performance. Caption: Vilma Henkelman, Surrender, 1994, thrown and formed earthenware, Kunstmuseum Den Haag