HEIDI BLOMSTEDT｜1911–1982｜FINLAND
Heidi Blomstedt was a Finnish ceramic artist and designer. She was born in 1911 as the youngest daughter of Jean Sibelius, Finland’s national composer.
She studied ceramics under Elsa Elenius at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in Helsinki, and after graduating in 1932 began working from a studio at her home. In the same year, she married the architect Aulis Blomstedt. During the 1930s, she worked primarily in studio ceramics, and in 1937 she was awarded a bronze medal at the Paris World Exposition.
In 1950, through her work at Uppsala Ekeby in Sweden, she developed a deeper interest in industrial ceramic production.
In the early 1960s, she collaborated with Kupittaan Savi, creating geometric vessels and vases. These new ceramic works were presented at a gallery in Helsinki in 1963, where they were well received and clearly expressed her design philosophy.
Blomstedt’s work is characterized by forms based on geometric shapes such as circles, squares, triangles, and hexagons. Her pieces were conceived not only to be used individually, but also to be combined with others of different sizes, shapes, and colors. In this, one can sense the influence of her husband Aulis Blomstedt’s longstanding interest in proportion and measurement.
In 1965, she founded the interior design office Interdesign, expanding the scope of her practice. From the late 1960s onward, she also began working in glass, producing works at Riihimäen Lasi. From 1970 onward, her Lumilasi series was manufactured by Kumela.
The Lumilasi series applied the geometric forms she had developed in ceramics to glass, and was introduced as a group of glass vessels for everyday use, including vases and bowls. In 1970, an exhibition titled Palveleva lasi was held at Artek in Helsinki.
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