Six times a year, we welcome a new visiting guest local artist into Riverside Collective. For July and August, we are thrilled to have another ceramicist in residence, Half Full Ceramics. We caught up with Justin to ask a few questions about his process and his art.
What inspires your art?
The compulsion to make is the biggest influence on my work. If I am not making work I feel a bit crazy. I like to make sets to get a better sense of scale, surface design, shape, etc. I always feel I can better assess my work by the 5th or 6th time I've made it. I also like to do this to better develop my flow for a particular process and riff off the original idea.
How does Saxapahaw influence your art?
I'm not 100% sure it does, although I do live up the same river a few miles away, and I like to walk past it with my dog on our walks daily. I enjoy seeing how much the rain influences how high or low the river is. I always wish the water way was treated better tho. The types of man made debris that I see floating down it or on the banks always makes me a little sad, but overall I love living on the Haw.
If you were to speak for your art how would you fill in these prompts?
I feel…Like I need to be held.
I need…my bottom to be sanded
I am…exactly how I was made
What’s your favorite tool and why?
Wooden rib. Straightens the walls of my pots out through compression which also makes them stronger. I can also shape the insides and outsides of whatever I'm making with this one tool; shape the rims of pots, undercut the foot!!! It's an amazing tool and perplexes me when I see people buying so many tools that can be done by this one.
What’s one thing that someone who isn’t a ceramicist wouldn’t know about what you do?
It's nothing like the movie Ghost and if you think it is, I'll fight you!
What idea or concept are you chewing on as an artist right now?
Working with more color and surface design but hating to draw.
Has it shown up in your work yet?
I would say yes, I have been riffing off of the surface design process using a transfer technique with colored slips and it has been working pretty well and I really do feel like I have a good understanding of the process. I still need to work on the designs of what I put on the pots though and that's a bit of a struggle because I really don't like to draw.
Are you a rebel with your art in any way?
Maybe, IDK. I don't spend time working in social or political messages into my work, but as a Black, male, ceramic artist I would say that is my rebellion. This is an artistic medium dominated and sometimes gatekept.
How does that make it better?
All good things are made under pressure.
The Guest Artist Reception for Half Full Ceramics will be on Sunday, July 13th from 12p to 4p, and we would love to see you there!
