Heart’s Desire

a collaborative exhibition by Elise Wessels and Janine van Schoor

As some of you might know by now, we have moved premises. Whilst we treasured the ten years spent at the original Church Street address, several factors pushed us to move our space further up Church Street and into the Bokaap. Demand for my ceramic work has grown over the past year and we will be focusing our efforts on the many exciting local and international commissions filling up my diary. …But the Heart is an organ of fire, it wants what it wants. And I don’t think I could ever stop creating homeware to make every day life more enjoyable, showcasing emerging talents or sourcing beautiful wares from yesteryear. And so it only seems fitting that our first exhibition in our new space is called ‘Heart’s Desire’. Through her multi-disciplinary work, artist Elise Wessels urges us to live a life from the Heart; to follow our Heart’s desire. And we plan to do just that. We look forward to continuing to bring you all the joy and whimsy you expect from us, – plus a little more.

The catalogue for the show can be found below.

Heart’s Desire by Elise Wessels

in collaboration with Janine Van Schoor and sound by Laurie Levine

A Pair of Hand-Painted and Glazed Ceramic Bowls

22cm diameter each

R4 200

Ceramic Glazed Vases

The vases below were built by Janine Van Schoor and were painted by Elise Wessels.

This project is a collaboration between their creative entities: BLACKFAN x FOM

Into the Night

Glazed Ceramic

27.5cm high

R17 500 (sold)

Desire (front and side view)

Glazed Ceramic

22cm high

R16 500

Curiosity

Glazed Ceramic

25.5cm high

R15 500 (sold)

The following works are done in collaboration between BLACKFAN x FOM

Each print is available from an edition of 20.

Curiosity

Archival Print on Hahnemühle German Etching Paper,

with 23 Carat Gold Applied by Hand

Edition: 1/20

71 x 53cm

R5 800 unframed

R8 400 framed

Into the Night

Archival Print on Hahnemühle German Etching Paper,

with 23 Carat Gold Applied by Hand.

Edition: 1/20

71 x 53cm

R5 800 unframed

R8 400 framed

Desire I

Archival Print on Hahnemühle German Etching Paper.

71 x 53cm

Edition: 1/20

R4 500 unframed

R6 800 framed

Desire II

Archival Print on Hahnemühle German Etching Paper.

71 x 53cm

Edition: 1/20

R4 500 unframed

R6 800 framed

Into the Night

Glazed Ceramic Bowl

22cm diameter

R2 800

Desire

Glazed Ceramic Bowl

22cm diameter

R2 800 sold

The Pandora Ceramic Tile Series

Each hand-painted and glazed ceramic tile measures 10 x 10cm.

R950 each

I (sold)

III (sold)

VI (sold)

VII

VIII

XII (sold)

XIII

XIV (sold)

XV (sold)

XVI

XVII

XVIII

XIX

XXI (sold)

XXII (sold)

XXIII

XXIV

Pomegranate I

Glazed Ceramic

27cm diameter

R2 800 (sold)

Sage Leaf

Glazed Ceramic

22cm diameter

R2 800 (sold)

Pomegranate II

Glazed Ceramic

27cm diameter

R2 800 (sold)

The following tiles were used as artwork for the limited range of short bread biscuit tins that were sold at Woolworths* during the 2022 festive season. The tin comprised of panels which were each made up from the hand-painted, once-off tiles displayed below.

Each glazed, ceramic tile is fitted with a brass hanging mechanism and measures 10x10cm. They are R1200 each

*Woolworths bought the rights to these images, but kindly gave permission for them to be sold on this exhibition. Proceeds of these tile sales will be donated to the Macassar Pottery social enterprise who made the physical tiles.

African Ginger (sold)

African Wormwood (sold)

Black Pelargonium (sold)

Buchu (sold)

Cancer Bush (sold)

Cat’s Tail (sold)

Devil’s Claw (sold)

Kanna (sold)

Kooigoed (sold)

Oldwood (sold)

Pepper Bark Tree (sold)

Pineapple Flower (sold)

Sour Fig (sold)

Ster Blom (sold)

Wild Dagga (sold)

Wild Rosemary (sold)

Chimera

Glazed Ceramic Plate

29cm diameter

R3 400 (sold)

The Heart’s Desire Scented Candle

by BLACKFAN STUDIO

We met Elise a year or two ago when she approached us to stock this candle. It has been widely enjoyed and has ultimately lead to this exhibition.

The scent of this candle is inspired by the overgrown herbs and flowers of Pandora’s garden at night.

FRAGRANCE NOTES:

Geranium, Clary Sage, Labdanum (Rock Rose)

This candle is made from pure soy wax that once melted can be used as a moisturising treatment on the skin. Scent created by Opus Botanical Studio.

Price: R850

We carry this candle as stock and is available throughout the year.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

The Heart’s Desire Vases project is a confluence of skills and ideas between myself and Janine van Schoor, that started in 2021. We wanted to build a body of work that spans sculpting, glazing, illustration, photography, compositing, and animation.

The theme was a natural progression of my previous collection, exploring the courage and intuition needed to pursue our Heart’s Desires, and facing the changes brought about as a result. It celebrates Pandora as an iconic anti-hero of antiquity, who dared to open the pithos that lay buried in her moonlit garden, simply because she was madly drawn to it.

The animations are inspired by Stephen Fry’s retelling of this moment in his 2017 book, Mythos. He describes the scene with such enchanting clarity that we can feel the cool air of the night, her building anticipation, we can smell the flowers and herbs in her overgrown garden, and the earth on her hands. We see Zeus appearing in the shape of a wolf to witness the moment she opens the pithos, and winged creatures escape into the night.

A big thanks to Laurie Levine for composing the mesmerising soundscapes for these moments.

This show explores the sensory elements of Pandora’s world, and implores us to live in courage: by following the path of the heart ♡