After spending years working in clay, Maureen Hebert wanted to branch out from a medium and process that can be heavy, dirty, and hot. Looking for a way to reinvent her clay forms, she turned to children’s science experiments and began growing borax crystals on pipe-cleaner supports. The highly unpredictable medium forced Hebert to relinquish some control over the final output and instead trust in the process. Equal parts science and serendipity, the results are breathtaking.

While initially drawn to the innate beauty of the crystals, Hebert notes that they are challenging to work with. Growing them to achieve a specific purpose can be quite fussy, and once formed they are sensitive to humidity, direct sunlight, and other environmental factors. For Hebert, the challenging part of this work was also the exciting part. After several casual attempts to grow crystals on the pipe-cleaner supports yielded spotty results, she began to record her process. The more analytical approach allowed her to better recreate the successful attempts, and she was eventually able to create forms that supported the growth process.

Form is important to Hebert, and the shapes that make up the support structures for her crystal works are both invented by the artist and inspired by history. Viewers can find a classic urn, bottles borrowed from Giorgio Morandi, and a series of finials that recall classic architecture. Several of the pieces are what Hebert considers sisters, sharing similar shapes but varying in color. She also explored the outside of a cylinder, and tested the scale she could grow a single piece.

Hebert doesn’t expect the crystal pieces to last, but anticipates that they will return to their original form. She says receiving the Material Needs grant freed her from the cost of failure, and allowed her to develop the experiment on a scale that would otherwise not have been possible. Though she is not certain the meaning of the work, she hopes to have given each piece a voice through the process.

Maureen Hebert, Item-767-Fragment, sodium tetraborate crystals on substrate, 2" x 8.5", 2019, Not For Sale