Joel Brown

My wood fired sculptures reflect my architectural background.  As Hideaki Miyamura notes in a catalog essay, “You have to be able to build it.  In both architecture and ceramics, the challenge is both aethetic and substantive.”  And after years of building design and construction, I’m drawn to the immediacy of clay.

Viewers see ancient alphabets or fantastic buildings in my pieces, and I enjoy their reactions.  When pressed, I say that audience reactions are always more interesting than any actual source.

I learned hand building with coils from Peter Callas and Joyce Michaud.  I’m inspired by the sculpture of Arnaldo Pomodoro and by antique skeleton watches, where the appearance of the internal mechanism is as important as the engraving on the case.

The surfaces of my pieces are achieved by wood firings through the action of flame and ash.  I trained in firing with Roger Baumann, Kristin Muller, and Dan Greenfeld.  Their kilns, based on ancient Japanese models, are stoked by teams for several days around the clock, reaching 2300 degrees.                                                                                                      

 http://www.joelbrownpots.com