Vestige
Stephanie Henricks
Vestige (detail) 2026
Midfire clay
Terra sigillata
31 x 15 x 15 cm
About the Artwork
Vestige records the ephemeral atmospheric conditions of a sawdust firing permanently in clay. The smooth and delicate terra sigillata provides a luminous surface upon which smoke and ash settle. The overall effect is painterly and evocative of the soft tonality of the Renaissance sfumato technique.
Sfumato, from the Italian sfumare (‘to evaporate like smoke’), is a painting technique that creates subtle, almost imperceptible, transitions between light and shadow. It is achieved through successive layers of thinly applied paint. Vestige’s surface was created over multiple firings, with each leaving similarly subtle traces, accumulating into a soft, atmospheric whole.
The vessel bears the direct trace of an unrepeatable convergence between clay, smoke, heat, air, and time, preserving an irretrievable transient event.
About the Artist
Stephanie Henricks is an emerging ceramic artist based in Meanjin/Brisbane. She has a Bachelor of Arts (Visual Arts) from the Queensland University of Technology. Stephanie has participated in several group exhibitions in Brisbane. As an extension to her ceramics practice, she has contributed articles to the Ceramic Arts Queensland Quarterly Bulletin magazine, The Journal of Australian Ceramics, and Ceramics Now magazine.
Recently, her work has been selected for Surface, North Coast Ceramics’ Annual Award for Contemporary Ceramic Excellence (2026); and Continuum, The Australian Ceramic Association Members’ exhibition (2026). Stephanie’s porcelain work Flora was acquired by the Museum of Brisbane in 2023.