Biography

Iris Bertz was born in Germany and now lives and works in England. She first encountered willow as an art-medium in the former East Germany and then went on to do an apprenticeship as a basketmaker in Stuttgart.

After finishing in 1992 she started to explore more artistic applications of the material; a significant project in this development was the work she did with artist Ute Mahling in Berlin.

A Carl Duisberg Grant took her to Ireland to work with basketmaker Joe Hogan, to study further techniques and to learn about the cultivation of willow.

This period of study in Ireland lead to a high level of accomplishement in the exercise of traditional willow weaving techniques. This basis in skill has proven essential in the execution of the later works which are created to look deliberately unskilled or unfinished; they realise their effect through expression rather than a beauty born of perfection.

For Bertz, her knowledge concerning the growing and harvesting of the raw material is an intrinsic part of the artistic statement. This knowledge links the work intrinsically to the natural cycles of living and death and manifests itself symbollically within the work.

In 2000 she graduated with an MA in Sculpture from the School of Art and Design, University of Wolverhampton. This period of reflection allowed her to consider the significance of the work and to move it forward in a much more expressive direction.

Awards:

Prize-winner, “Resonance”, Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa, UK, 2001

Personal Development Grant working with Joe Hogan, Eire, 1994

NAN-Review Bursary, Networking Artists Networks, Artist Newsletter, 2006

Selected Exhibitions:

“Geistlich”, Installation All Saints Parish Church Leamington Spa, 2006

“Clayboat”, Gallery City of Camaguey, Cuba, 2006

Solo Show, Rockingham Castle with Fermynwoods Gallery, UK, 2005

“Mantel”, Solo show, the gallery, Stratford-upon-Avon, UK, 2004

“It’s a wonderful world, Collide Festival, Birmingham, UK, 2003

“Tracing”, South Town Gallery, Leamington Spa, UK, 2002

“Intervention”, 50 Artists 5 Houses, Handsworth, Birmingham, UK, 2002

Two Person Show, Schranne, Giengen, Germany, 2002

“The View belongs to Everyone”, Lickey Hills, Birmingham, UK, 2001

“Don’t mention the war”, The Juggler, Hoxton Market, London, 2001

“Be” MA Show, School of Art and Design, Wolverhampton, UK, 2000

“Architecture and Nature”, Imperia, Italy, 1993

“Wood”, City Gallery, Potsdam, Germany, 1992

Selected Commissions and Projects:

Shakespeare’s Birthplace in wheat, commission by Shredded Wheat, London, 2007

Poetree, commission by Warwick Words, three tree sculptures, Warwick 2007

Glasshouse, project with Kindle Theatre, Chance Glass Factory, Smethwick, 2006

?ner, installation at Kulturfusjon, Trondheim Norway, 2006

Temporal, Commission Ernest & Julio Gallo Winery, Stratford, UK, 2002

Artist in Residence, Grange Park, Towcester, 2002

Artist in Residence, Gallery in the Trees, Lickey Hills, UK, 2001

Workshop Leader, Cr@ftroutes residency, Herefordshire, UK, 2001

Consultant for GTZ (German Development Agency) and the Regional Agricultural Ministry, Santa Catarina, Brazil, 1998

Artist in Residence, Brereton Heath Country Park, UK, 1997

“Nest”, Europos Parkas, Lithuania, 1997

Commission, suspended ceiling XS- Bar, Liverpool, UK, 1997

Living Willow Project, with Ute Mahling, Berlin, Germany, 1993

Collaborative Design Project “Uebergriffe”, Stuttgart, Germany, 1992