“Each piece carries the hand of the artist: textured, imperfect, and alive with process. To me the beauty lies in the dialogue between intention and material, resulting in forms that are at once personal and universal. Every sculpture is a unique expression—shaped by clay, shaped by experience.”
ANTONIO DIAZ
“The beauty of clay is in its imperfection.”
Explore
COSMIC DANCE by Antonio Diaz & Stefan Hengst
In Cosmic Dance, various sized ceramics by Antonio Diaz and printed/painted imagery by Stefan Hengst are fused, blurring the distinction between 2D and 3D. Their work presents a hybrid holistic dimension, and is a visual exploration of their creativity, the relationship between the two, and the world at large. The works relate to all parts of the universe, and the artists’ place within it. It can be seen as an ongoing dance with life itself, hence the exhibition’s title.
Inspired by their long term relationship that spans over 27 years, the artist duo explores their correlation as artists for the first time in Cosmic Dance, an exhibition of recent collaborative works. The exhibition was initiated by Leila Heller after she visited the artist duo’s studio in Chelsea. Seeing their works for the first time in one space, she recognized an artistic dialogue happening between the two, an exchange the artists call 1 + 1 = 3. The combining effect of two individuals who know each other well was coming together seamlessly through their art. The result is a sum greater than their separate effects.
The artists see this as a process of constantly forming and reforming together. How they are held in a space for a given period of time, evolving and creating in an ever-changing moment, to form their own quantum entanglement and cosmic dance.
Work
OVERVIEW
About
Antonio Diaz
Born in Granada and based in New York City, Antonio Diaz is a ceramic artist whose work explores form, imperfection, and transformation. His lifelong fascination with sculpture began at a young age, rooted in an early sensitivity to shape and texture.
After a 40-year career as a hairstylist — itself a form of sculptural practice — Diaz returned to his first passion:
working with clay. Each ceramic piece is a collaboration between artist and material, embracing unpredictability and honoring the dialogue between control and surrender.
His process celebrates imperfection as beauty. What begins with the intention to create something “perfect” inevitably leads somewhere unexpected — resulting in works that are layered, tactile, and deeply personal. Each sculpture carries the memory of its making: fingerprints, hand-built marks, and the shifting will of the clay itself.
Diaz’s ceramics are living objects — shaped by the artist, yet never fully contained by him. Every finished work invites new relationships between artist, material, and viewer, transforming over time into something uniquely its own.
Recognition
Exhibitions
2025 — Shaping Memory, Jane Doe Gallery, New York, NY, USA (Solo)
2024 — Material Dialogues, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA, USA (Group)
2023 — Clay in Motion, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, Granada, Spain (Solo)
Contact
Whether you’re interested in a specific piece, a commission, or simply learning more about my practice, I’d love to connect.