From the Collection: Prairie Vessels

December 8, 2025 – May 4, 2026

Mary Merkel-Hess creates sculptural basket-like forms, which she refers to as landscape reports. Inspired by Iowa’s natural surroundings, she uses reeds and paper to conjure images of tall grasses and cultivated fields, shaped and tamed like Iowa’s gridded landscape. The basket form is another symbolic reference to nature and life as it carries and stores natural resources and objects. 

Merkel-Hess uses a technique that is a combination of collage and papier mache. Small pieces of paper are applied with glue over a mold and allowed to dry, creating a paper form that is removed from its mold and further manipulated. Her technique uses a variety of thin and thick papers, shapes, and has included paper cord, reed, or fiber in the body of the vessels. Her development of this process has evolved throughout her career. 

“I make vessels because I am fascinated with form and structure. I look for inspiration in the natural world and then allow technique to mesh with these visual ideas to create something new.” – Mary Merkel-Hess 

Born in Iowa, Mary Merkel-Hess grew up surrounded by farmlands. She studied at Marquette University and earned her BFA at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She received her MA and MFA from the University of Iowa in metalsmithing and papermaking. While her work is in numerous collections, one of her sculptural vessels was the first contemporary basket form acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Mary Merkel-Hess, Untitled, mixed media, Art in State Buildings