Looking for a place to begin . . .
“Looking for a place to begin, I wrote in a sketchbook. It was an instruction which simply said ‘just make the pots that you want to make’
Jack Doherty challenges the rules of refinement and containment through the fluidity and energy of his work. His soda-fired vessels are embedded with ancient stories and contemporary narratives. They create an intervention with domestic space and daily life. No longer purely utilitarian, these abstract vessels do not conform to conventional use. Doherty questions the vernacular of domesticity and functionality. He describes himself as being; Interested in the usefulness of things. Archetypal forms from history are touchstones in my practice. Vessels made for a contemporary context can be solitary and contemplative or ceremonial; for everyday or a special occasion.
His work explores the subtle purity of porcelain and more recently the opposing robust qualities of stoneware. The forms are thrown, then carved and shaped reflecting the physicality of making. The elemental colour and surface texture are created by the fusion of fire and soda.
