Jonathan Barnes

As a child my parents allowed me the freedom to explore and make mistakes. The freedom to explore and discover has led me to my current body of work. I am combining my love of pattern and design with my ceramic objects, creating functional vessels and dimensional wall tiles. The surfaces are a series of explorations of layering slips and glazes, utilizing resists that are digitally generated. This intersection of the hand and machine holds great fascination for me, for both can do so much that the other cannot.

Conceptually my work focuses on the idea of the role of handmade objects (pottery) in everyday use with consideration to nourishment of the body and family, to decorative objects (tiles) to incorporate ideas of pattern, texture and design into the home. I reference historical ceramic and design objects from many sources including Persian ceramics, mid-century modern design, Japanese ceramics as well as American ceramic objects. www.buyhandmadepottery.com