High Vase no. 43, sculpture by Cengiz Hartmann

Cengiz Hartmann was born in 1990 in Germany. He develops an artistic practice guided by a simple yet profound principle: "Begreifen," a German word that means both to touch and to understand. For him, thought flows through the hands; the act of creation is a form of sensory comprehension of the world. Cengiz Hartmann seeks to strip things of all artifice to reveal their essence. This quest takes on a particular dimension with his series of High Vases. Through their size, color, and slender silhouette, these vases become almost alive. They are hand-carved from a single block of fresh wood, then buried to dry slowly. This prolonged contact with the earth gives each piece a unique hue, a result of the absorbed minerals. This ritual of slow transformation anchors the works in a natural, almost sacred temporality. Cengiz gives intuition a central place, which he considers a form of concentrated experience. His creations, imbued with simplicity and depth, are traversed by a quest for accuracy: that of an essential language, of a poetry nestled in forms, textures, gestures.