Jack Fruechte
My body of work combines stoneware pottery with atmospheric firing techniques to explore ideas of visual simplicity and organic spontaneity. I construct work that is both visually and physically satisfying, while providing a significant functional connection between the form and the user. The utmost concern for my work is to satisfy the functional needs of the user, while also providing a visually beautiful form to use.
While the majority of my forms are very simple, I use both subtle surface decorations and various atmospheric firing techniques in order to elicit a sense of motion that is present throughout the making process. I draw upon the techniques of atmospheric firing such as soda firing to reinforce the uncertain organic nature of the material and process in which my work is produced. I want each piece to be visually similar to one another, but each unique at the same time. This uncertain organic element supports my decision to omit any types of direct visual narrative from my work, and instead allow the form to speak for itself.
I am inspired by the work of the Mingei pottery movement of Japan, along with various contemporary functional potters including Akira Satake, Ken Matsuzaki, Lisa Hammond, Warren Mackenzie, and Randy Johnston. I gather ideas from sources outside the ceramic world, and specifically ones that maintain a production style that is decisively process oriented, such as the work of French painter Bernard Frize. These influences create works that directly showcase elements of the making process in the final work, and that is something that I hope to achieve as well in my own work through the tool and brush marks on my pots.
I am not trying to make a social statement or create a complex cultural narrative within my work. I instead look to produce work that provides consumers with something that they are able to use in their daily lives. This work demands to become part of the house and have a purpose within your daily routine; not something that is created for solely visual consumption.