Initially creating utilitarian works, such as traditional serving ware, Manz shifted her focus onto the creation of experimental forms in the 1990s. Manz developed a method to create translucent vessels, whereby she would pour liquid porcelain in a thin layer onto a plaster mold, and fire the biscuit several times in succession at temperatures of up to 1300 degrees.

As for the geometric designs that embellish the interior and exterior of her vessels, Manz drafts each composition on paper, which are made into transfers and applied to the surface of the porcelain. These geometric patterns are comprised of bold, tightly composed fields of color. They are dynamic, linear patterns that take inspiration from modernist architecture and painters such as Mondrian and Malevich. The transfers require several consecutive firings to achieve her desired affect. However, Manz notes, she cannot always control the final outcome. At times, the firing process results in a softening effect upon her initial geometric design.

The resultant forms are a wonderful exploration of the multidimensionality of the cylinder. Her attentiveness to the interior and exterior aspects of the form, the applied geometries, and consideration for the way in which light acts upon the opaque and translucent elements of those geometries, not only enhance each of these features individually, but in Manz's attentiveness to their cohesive interaction serves to unify these compositional concepts into a three-dimensional whole.

Each vessel Manz creates is unique. Though they vary in size, texture and design, each is executed with the same technical ingenuity, characterized by a tenuous thinness but also balanced and harmonic design elements that can be observed from every angle. And, despite the unconventionality of Manz's creations, each one references the traditional form of the vessel rooted in her arts and craft training.