Jack Doherty

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

“My soda-fired porcelain vessels are embedded with ancient stories and contemporary narratives. They create an intervention with domestic space and daily life. I am intrigued and inspired by the potency of archetypal vessel forms. Anonymous and uncomplicated pots from pre-history have been used for storing, containing, cooking and keeping people safe through winters by providing protection. In our everyday modern world I believe that ceramic forms can also function in many different ways. Translated as guardians of emotion and connectors with the spiritual, I want my vessels to inhabit our domestic spaces in the light, shadow and darkness with qualities that neither painting nor abstract sculpture can.

I live with ceramic vessels. Their forms and volume, edges and textures spill from the studio into every room. In these living spaces the pots speak for themselves, displayed on ledges windowsills and mantelpieces.

For me, the kiln is both a tool and a creative environment. The family groupings of vessels in the exhibition consider how objects can be positioned in a confined space to develop dynamic relationships between the forms and fire.

Technically, my work is focused on using soda firing to evolve a new palette of colour and surface texture closely integrated with the form. Over the years the process has become simpler and more refined, using one clay, one colouring mineral and a single firing with sodium bicarbonate. I believe in stripping away the unnecessary to produce work with complexity and depth.”

Jack Doherty, 2018