Since the start of the 2002 Russian invasion of Ukraine at least 19546, upwards of 35,000 Ukrainian children have been abducted by Russia from occupied Ukrainian territories and torn away from their families. The vyshyvanka, a traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt, is an emblem of Ukrainian identity and cultural memory. In earlier Ukrainian traditions, family members embroidered vyshyvankas for children as a symbol of love and protection. This ripped child’s vyshyvanka, represents tens of thousands of Ukrainian children torn away from their families by Russian occupiers and forcibly “Russified”. According to the 1948 Convention on the Crime of Genocide, such acts constitute genocide if they are committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a nation or ethnic group. This horrific appropriation of children has been classified as a war crime by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The return of stolen Ukrainian children is currently being negotiated.
Porcelain slip, aluminum wire, monofilament, 20 x 22 x 3”
The Innocence Project, 2025
E. Ingrid Tietz in ~1956, a former neuroscientist and now artist, was born in Rockford, IL, in 1954 to German immigrants who arrived in New York Harbor in 1952. Her father, drafted into the German army at 19, was captured in 1943. As a medic he was retained in a Texas internment camp for 3 years. After repatriation he resumed his medical training in Germany. Her mother escaped the incendiary firestorms in Hamburg while training as a medical technician. During and after the war with Germany, American's remarkable decency and generosity extended even to German emigrants. Her parents were naturalized as US citizens in 1958, realizing the new promise of America as a pediatrician and a German teacher. As a birthright citizen E. Ingrid Tietz, Ph.D. had these same opportunities.
In the meanwhile, the language in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution which grants birthright citizenship was contradicted by an executive order signed on inauguration day 2025. The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to this executive order. To fit their distorted cultural image of America, the current administration also suspended and altered the refugee admissions program and other sponsored programs leading to U.S. citizenship. The opportunities for American citizenship offered to refugees in the past are fading and citizenship is now 'for sale' for 5 million dollars. Zip-ties and deportation are now the norm for immigrants seeking asylum and/or pathways to citizenship for themselves or their American-born children. America, my country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, now land of cruelty, let freedom ring again.
The Innocence Project, 2025
Ceramic artists Darcy Bowden and Juan Jose Arzac facilitated the rendering of the ceramic offset lithograph. "Born in the U.S.A.", Bruce Springsteen, 1982.
"Sabrina's Soul" reflects a Palestinian girl, Sabrina, her mother's namesake, named at birth by her grandmother. Sabrina was orphaned before birth, i.e. born in Gaza to her dead mother and her father and brother simultaneously killed by a military airstrike. Spray-painted plastic and fabric doll cradled by two slip-cast porcelain white cotton gloves lying on a vintage, remodeled slip-cast porcelain heart-shaped pillow which had been fashioned primarily of lace.
Spray-painted plastic and fabric doll cradled by two slip-cast porcelain white cotton gloves lying on a vintage, remodeled heart-shaped pillow now entirely of porcelain
Porcelain, plastic and fabric doll, spray paint, 5 × 11 × 11"
The Innocence Project, 2024
Slip-cast porcelain bag, gold lustre, 2022
Donated to SOS Community Service Auction, Sold $185
In this slip-cast porcelain sculpture derived from children’s underwear, the second in a series, children are depicted as their most vulnerable and innocent. Young migrant children continue to be drastically affected by their incarceration in overflowing numbers, complicated by the construction of a southern border wall to exclude immigrants.
3D Sculpture: Slip-cast porcelain, sawtooth hangers, roofing nail, 42 x 114 x 2“, 2020, Innocence Project
Michigan Ceramics Art Association (MCAA) Biennial Exhibition, 2020 Birmingham Bloomfield (MI) Art Center, Oct 16th-Nov 12th, 2020.
COCA Project 2020, Second Selection, Center of Contemporary Artists, Rome, Italy
Slip-cast porcelain, overglaze decals, 12.5 x 11”, 2020
Slip-cast porcelain, gel decal, 15 x 12 x 1.5 “, 2018, NFS
Slip-cast porcelain, overglaze decal, 8 x 7.5”, 2020
3D Ceramic Sculpture: Slip-cast porcelain, 6 “, 9 “, 12 ” steel rods, acrylic mounts. 48 x 84 x 16 ”, 2018
The Innocence Project, 2018
ArtPrize 10 Venue: Monroe Community Church, 800 Monroe St. NW.
COCA Project 2020, Second Selection, Center of Contemporary Artists, Rome, Italy
Children 2021, Oct 30 to Dec 10, 2021, Gallerium, Bifarin Online Exhibtion, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
3D Ceramic Sculpture: Slip-cast porcelain, 6 “, 9 “, 12 ” steel rods, acrylic mounts. 48 x 84 x 16 ”, 2018
The Innocence Project, 2018
ArtPrize 10 Venue: Monroe Community Church, 800 Monroe St. NW.
COCA Project 2020, Second Selection, Center of Contemporary Artists, Rome, Italy
Children 2021, Oct 30 to Dec 10, 2021, Gallerium, Bifarin Online Exhibtion, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
3D Ceramic Sculpture: Slip-cast porcelain, 6 “, 9 “, 12 ” steel rods, acrylic mounts. 48 x 84 x 16 ”, 2018
The Innocence Project, 2018
ArtPrize 10 Venue: Monroe Community Church, 800 Monroe St. NW.
COCA Project 2020, Second Selection, Center of Contemporary Artists, Rome, Italy
Children 2021, Oct 30 to Dec 10, 2021, Gallerium, Bifarin Online Exhibtion, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
3D Ceramic Sculpture: Slip-cast porcelain, 6 “, 9 “, 12 ” steel rods, acrylic mounts. 48 x 84 x 16 ”, 2018
The Innocence Project, 2018
ArtPrize 10 Venue: Monroe Community Church, 800 Monroe St. NW.
COCA Project 2020, Second Selection, Center of Contemporary Artists, Rome, Italy
Children 2021, Oct 30 to Dec 10, 2021, Gallerium, Bifarin Online Exhibtion, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Slip-cast porcelain, plum glaze, 10 x 5.6 x 2.75”, 2020
Slip-cast porcelain, overglaze decal, 9 x 7.5”, 2020 Innocence Project
Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez, a 16 yr old Guatemalan died unattended of the flu May 20th, 2019 in a holding cell at the Texas-Mexico Border
Slip-cast porcelain, nylon lace, LED lights, steel cart, 22 x 19 x 36 "
ArtPrize9, Fountain Street Church, Grand Rapids, MI
Sep 20 - Oct 8, 2017
96th Annual All Media Exhibition, Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor, MI, Juror: Sarah Rose Sharp, Nov 2 - Dec 1, 2018
COCA Project 2020, Second Selection, Center of Contemporary Artists, Rome, Italy
Detail
ArtPrize9, Fountain Street Church, Grand Rapids, MI, Sep 20 - Oct 8, 2017
96th Annual All Media Exhibition, Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor, MI, Juror: Sarah Rose Sharp, Nov 2 - Dec 1, 2018
Slipcast Porcelain, crater glaze, annealed steel wire.
96th Annual All Media Exhibition, Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor, MI, Juror: Sarah Rose Sharp, Nov 2 - Dec 1, 2018
Slip-cast porcelain, Kintsugi gold, gold wire, 14 x 9 x 2”, 2019
Kintsugi Series
Slip-cast porcelain, Kintsugi gold, 14“ x 9“, 2019
Kintsugi Series
Slip-cast porcelain, Kintsugi gold, rusted rod, stained concrete,
50 x 14 x 10 “, 2019
Desolation Series
Slip-cast porcelain, Kintsugi gold, 2020
Innocence Project
Slip-cast porcelain, crater glaze, steel & copper wire, 18 x 12 x 2 “, 2019
Desolation Series
Slip-cast porcelain, crater glaze, rusted chain, rusted fixed-eye pulley, iron spike, 27 x 13 x 2 ”, 2018
Desolation Series
Slip-cast porcelain, wire, iron spike, 9.5 x 4 x 2 “, 2018
You Can't Touch a Ghost: Art & Music Charity Exhibition for Alternative for Girls, Jan 19, 2019, Galleri 2987, Things Feel Heavy, Detroit, MI, Curated by: Anna Van Schapp
Slip-cast porcelain, wire, vintage pearl buttons, iron spike, 10 x 4 x 2 “, 2019
Fast Food Nation
Real objects (paper bag, hamburger, french fry holder, cup, and tray) were slip-cast from porcelain in handmade plaster molds. French fries and straw were hand-built from porcelain clay. Laser-printed decals were added to the tray during firing.
8.5" x 10.5" x 10.5"
$1,000
Detail
Slip-cast porcelain; polyester/down, hand sewn, 14 x 16 x 16 “, 2017
Michigan Ceramics 2017, Michigan Ceramic Arts Society, Mar 3-Apr 1, 2017, Valade Family Gallery, A. Taubman Center for Design Education, College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI. Juror: Richard Notkin.
Slip-cast porcelain, 12.5 x 9 x 9 “, 2018
RINSE / REPEAT, Aug 17-Sep 15, 2018, Juror: Marlee Grace, 117 Gallery, Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor, MI.
Boogie Down Block Party, July 10, 2021; juried by the Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, MI
Slip-cast porcelain, laser decals, coffee stained lace, 2017
You Are Here, Carr Center, Detroit, MI, Nov 3 - Dec 13, 2017, Curator: Anna van Schaap
The porcelain lantern represents women who have for decades been objectified and may color how they view themselves. How their sometimes conflicted light within is outwardly manifested, may draw added negative inferences and perpetuate objectification.
Slip-cast self-made porcelain paper bag mold, slip cast cotton white glove, porcelain reflector with battery operated LEDs, lace, ring studs with silver chain sitting on a hand-sewn reconstructed vintage pillow.
20 x 16 x 8”, Bagladies Series, 2024
Gutman Gallery, Anything Goes, 2024
Slip-cast porcelain, gold lustre, twilltape; mounted on 1964 VW rearview mirror,
12 x 7 x 3”, (Dylan, 1964), 2020
Oil and cold wax on artboard, slip-cast porcelain, parchment paper, rusted metal, painted frame, 20 x 17 x 1.5”
Gutman Gallery, Anything Goes, 2020
Slip-cast porcelain; polyester/down, hand sewn, 14 x 16 x 16 “, 2017
Michigan Ceramics 2017, Michigan Ceramic Arts Society, Mar 3-Apr 1, 2017, Valade Family Gallery, A. Taubman Center for Design Education, College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI. Juror: Richard Notkin.
Porcelain, underglaze, clear glaze, steel basket, 14 x 6 x 5 “, 2017
Slip-cast porcelain, nylon lace, stained concrete.
14 x 15 x 12 “, 2018
AAWA Fall Juried Exhibit, Oct 17-Nov 29, 2017, Ann Arbor Library, Ann Arbor, MI, Juror: Bruce Winslow.
Slip-cast porcelain, nylon lace, wire, cotton bag, 22 x 10 x 4 “, 2017
Bagladies Series, 2017
Oil and cold wax, slip-cast porcelain on panel, 18” x 18”, 2020
Fragments Series
Oil and cold wax, slip-cast porcelain, wire fence, steel wire, toothbrush on panel, 20 x 20 ”, 2020
Desolation Series
Oil and cold wax, slip-cast porcelain, tacks, screen on artboard floating on iron spikes, 12 x 18” tryptich, 2019
Fragments Series
Oil and cold wax, slip-cast porcelain, Kintsugi gold, 36 x 24 “ 2019
Kintsugi Series
Gutman Gallery Folklore Exhibition, Ann Arbor, MI, Sep. 23- Oct. 29, 2022
Oil and cold wax, slip-cast porcelain, Kintsugi gold, 24 x 20 “ 2019
Kintsugi Series
Slip cast porcelain, oil and cold wax, Kintsugi gold on panel, 30 x 24”, 2020
Kintsugi Series
Oil and cold wax, slip-cast porcelain, crater glaze, rusted metal, sand and annealed steel wire on panel, 24 x 20 ”, 2018
Desolation Series
Oil and cold wax, slip-cast porcelain, crater glaze, rusted metal, rust, ash, and sand on panel, 36 x 24 ”, 2018
Desolation Series
Oil and cold wax, slip-cast porcelain, crater glaze, wire fence, on panel, 16 x 12”, 2020.
Desolation Series
Oil and cold wax, slip-cast porcelain on panel, 14” x 11”, 2020
Fragments Series
Oil and cold wax, slip-cast porcelain, parchment paper on artboard, 12” x 16”, 2020
Fragments Series
Oil and cold wax, slip-cast porcelain on panel, 12” x 16”, 2020
Fragments Series
Oil and cold wax, slip-cast porcelain on panel, 10” x 10”, 2020
Fragments Series
"THE SAME SHOES"
E.I. Tietz, I. Bondarenko, D. Bowden
Gutman Gallery, July 1 thru July 31, 2022
Over recent years, E. Ingrid Tietz's Innocence Project (eingridtietzart.com) has focused on the innocence and fragility of children with sculptures based on slip-cast porcelain pieces derived from infant and children's clothing.
Fragility and resilience are a continuum. While children are indeed resilient, their resilience has been assailed in many ways throughout the world, currently in Ukraine.
"The Same Shoes," (V. Zelenskyy to V. Orbán on 03.25.22) is a collaborative effort by Clay Work Studio ceramicists (Studio Director: Y. K. Lee), to focus on the current plight and death of Ukrainian children brought about by the Russian invasion. The emotional trauma surviving children experience from conflict challenges their resilience and casts a lasting shadow over their lives.
The Ukrainian flag (I. Bondarenko, D. Bowden) and the accompanying children's drawings, also in the window were hand-colored by elementary school-aged children at the Ridna Shkola Ukrainian School in Warren, Michigan. The flag is a backdrop for 109 white porcelain children's shoes representing the innocence and fragility of Ukrainian children (E.I. Tietz) killed as of 03.25.22, the 42nd day of the invasion. Stuffed animals, also made of porcelain and children's toys, scattered amongst rubble complete her installation.
Since the start of the Russian invasion at least 339 innocent children have been confirmed killed and 611 injured. Nearly two thirds of ~7.5 million children in Ukraine have fled their country.
Collaborative installation by porcelain sculptor and abstract painter E. Ingrid Tietz, ceramist Irina Bondarenko, and ceramist and printmaker Darcy Bowden in remembrance of children killed in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with drawings by Ukrainian children in the Detroit area.
CultureVerse, March 1 thru 30, 2022
Black Sculpture Clay, Buttercream glaze, 6” x 9.5” x 2.5”, $175
2024, Anything Goes, Gutman Gallery, Jan 26, Mar 2, 2024, Juror, Ingrid Ankerson,.
Shaped Coiled Vase, Black sculpture clay, porcelain slip, gold glaze,
10.5 × 6”
Slip Cast Porcelain, 8.875 x 7 x 0.75 in
Every Body, Gutman Gallery, June 2- July 1st, Juror: Nora Venturelli, $175
Aug. 2023, NFS
Slipcast porcelain,
Slipcast black porcelain, red raspberry interior glaze, palladium exterior glaze, black leather lace, 4.25 x 4.75 x 2.25”, 2020
Slipcast black porcelain, cear interior glaze, exterior bubbled white underglaze, 4.25 x 4.75 x 1.5”, 2020
Slipcast black porcelain, cranberry interior glaze, 4.25 x 4.75 x 2.25”, 2020
Slipcast black porcelain, blue interior glaze, exterior white and grey bubbled underglaze, 4.25 x 4.75 x 1.5”, 2020
Slipcast black porcelain, Clear interior glaze, exterior Hagi and palladium glaze, black leather lace, 4.25 x 4.75 x 2”, 2020
Slip cast Porcelain, interior clear glaze, gold lustre, 8x4x2.5”, 2022
Donated to SOS Community Services Washtenaw County, 2022 Auction
Slipcast porcelain, Clear interior glaze, 9 x 4.25 x 3”, 2017
Slipcast porcelain, Clear interior glaze, 7.25x 4.25 x 4”, 2017
Oil and cold wax on artboard mounted on panel, 24 x 20 “, 2018
Lichen It Series
Oil and cold wax on panel, 40 x 30 ”, 2018
“Lovely, Dark and Deep” Series
Oil and cold wax, graphite on panel, 40 x 30 “, 2018
“Lovely, Dark and Deep” Series
Oil and cold wax, 12 x 16“, 2019
“Lovely, Dark and Deep” Series
Oil and cold wax, 24 x 20“, 2019
“Lovely, Dark and Deep” Series
Oil and cold wax on panel, 30 x 24”, 2019
“Lovely, Dark and Deep” Series
Oil and cold wax, 24 x 20“, 2019
“Lovely, Dark and Deep” Series
Oil and cold wax on artboard mounted on panel, Diptych,
16 x 24 “, 2018
“Lovely, Dark and Deep” Series
Oil and cold wax on panel, Diptych, 24” x 36”, 2018
“Lovely, Dark, and Deep” Series
Oil and cold wax on artboard mounted on panel.
Diptych, 14 x 22 “, 2018
“Lovely, Dark and Deep” Series
Oil and cold wax on panel, 11 x 14 “, 2018
“Lovely, Dark, and Deep” Series
Encautic, Oil and Cold Wax, 12 x 12” on panel
Oil and cold wax, pan pastel on panel. 40 x 30”, 2020,
Prussian Blues Series
Oil and cold wax on artboard, 24 x 20 “, 2018, NFS
Prussian Blues Series
Oil and cold wax on artboard, 24 x 20 “, 2018
Prussian Blues Series
Oil and cold wax on artboard, 20 x 24 “, 2018
Prussian Blues Series
Oil and cold wax on artboard, 24 x 20 “, 2018
Prussian Blues Series
Oil and cold wax on artboard mounted on panel, 24 x 20 “, 2018
Oil and cold wax on panel, 16x 20", NFS, 2017
Lichen It Series
Oil and cold wax on artboard mounted on panel, 20 x 24 “, 2018
Lichen It Series
Oil and cold wax on artboard mounted on panel, 24” x 20”, 2018
Lichen It Series
Oil and cold wax on artboard mounted on panel, 24 x 20 “, 2018
Lichen It Series
Oil and cold wax on artboard, 24 x 20 “, 2018
Rhythmicity Series
Oil and cold wax on artboard, 24” x 20”, 2018
Rhythmicity Series
Oil and cold wax on artboard, 24” x 20”, 2018
Rhythmicity Series
Oil and cold wax on artboard, 24 x 20 “, 2018
Rhythmicity Series
Oil and cold wax on artboard, 20 x 24 “, 2018
Rhythmicity Series
Oil and cold wax on artboard, 12 x 16 “, 2017
Oil and cold wax on artboard, 24 x 20 “, 2018
Rhythmicity Series
Oil and cold wax on panel 5 x 4 “, 2017, NFS
Acrylic and oil and cold wax on canvas, 30 x 30 “, 2017
Acrylic on canvas, 16 x 20 “, 2016
Acrylic on canvas, 20 x 20 “, 2016
AAWA Spring Juried Exhibit,Mar 13-Apr 29, 2016, Malletts Creek Library, Ann Arbor, MI, Juror: Nora Venturelli.
Acrylic on canvas, 24 x 24 “, 2017, NFS
Acrylic on canvas, 24 x 20 “, 2016
Acrylic, paper, glass beads on canvas, 24 x 30 “, 2016
Never Not Broken, 117 Gallery, Mar 11-Mar 26, 2016, 117 Gallery, Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor, MI, Curator: Anna van Schaap, Things Feel Heavy,
Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 24, 2016
Acrylic on canvas, , 30 x 30 “, 2015, NFS
Acrylic on canvas, 20 x 20 “, 2013
Encaustic, oil, metallic leaf, wire on panel, 10 x 10 “, 2017
