Vessels

In a quest for ‘Wild Things’ (inspired by her book of the same name, 2017), Hilde Bouchez creates intuitive ceramic objects that can stand on their own, but can also be used as vases. They are wild because they are alive. They radiate a power that has been consciously imbued into the clay and the creative process, drawing on the ethos of the time-honoured craftsman. In doing so, she refers to the craftspeople in traditional cultures, who are often also shamans and place their work at the service of the community. Their objects are therefore imbued with spirit and connect the visible with the invisible. 
Her work ranges from explosions of colour that allude to inner dreams to earthy objects that embody the transformative power of fire. Both are expressions of intense shamanic experiences in the Andes Valley in Peru.
The title of the work refers to the idea that rivers, just like people, dream. The earthly objects resemble archaeological finds from a forgotten time, which only the river still remembers.

Photo:  Installation, The River Whispers, 2025
©️ Marthe Hoet