Herma de Wit
Herma de Wit is a Dutch artist based in Amsterdam, where she works between her city studio and a countryside retreat. Before dedicating herself fully to art in 1996, she built a career in fashion and founded her own label, HERMA DE WIT. Drawing on this technical background, her practice ranges from intimate works on paper to monumental sculptural installations, united by a deep sensitivity to material and form.
Nature lies at the heart of De Wit’s work. Through delicate prints of collected leaves, flowers, and branches, she explores the quiet poetry and spiritual resonance of the natural world. Her sculptures, often shaped from clay and earth, pay homage to the elemental origins of life and the enduring connection between humanity and the environment. Rooted in themes of growth, memory, and belonging, her work reflects a profound reverence for the forces that sustain and connect us.
Interview
Hilversum, The Netherlands.
Visiting Paris in 1979, Centre Pompidou / Atelier Brancusi.
Yes. First, as a fashion designer.
The interior of my parental home.
If I am inspired by something in nature, I will think about what kind of material I will use for it.
I always plan 1 or 2 days in advance. Many days I am just thinking about new work. I prepare everything 3D in my head, down to the finest detail.
I carefully dry the flowers/branches and print them on 20 gr Japanese paper. I need to work with an assistant to handle large sizes.
Work in wax or soft clay.
Modern/botanical Art.
Josef Alberts. Vincent Van Duysen, whom I met in Milan in 1987 (we both worked there). His first home in Antwerp felt like coming home.
Edmund de Waal, Charlotte Perriand, Christiane Lemieux.
Brancusi and Barbara Hepworth.
Still Life of Nature.
In my latest work, ‘Fossils’ I try to find the spirit of nature.
“Every leaf, every branch I find carries a story.”
The Questions
(The Proust Questionnaire is a set of questions answered by the French writer Marcel Proust.
Other historical figures who have answered confession albums are Oscar Wilde,
Karl Marx, Arthur Conan Doyle, Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Cézanne…)
Be happy with yourself.
War.
Chaotic talking.
Super authoritarian.
Macron.
Living in my fantasy.
Inner peace.
To be frugal.
Humor.
Honesty.
None.
Speak foreign languages.
More confidence.
The creating of the Origin.
As a human being.
Small lively place.
My mother’s necklace.
Having no food.
Watching docu’s.
Create atmosphere.
Affection.
Pascal de Mercier, Fran Lebowitz, Alba de Céspides.
Jesus.
Barbara Hepworth.
Marlene Dumas, Halina Reijn.
Samuel, Josha.
Empty people.
I threw away my early work.
Peacefully.
Just keep going!
“In my latest work, ‘Fossils,’ I try to find the spirit of nature.”
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