Jack Kirkpatrick

 

Jack has a background in art& ceramics he is fascinated with the relationship of vessel and human form as metaphor. He has extensive experience with most methods of ceramic forming & firing and he especially loves the flash of fire and smoke on the raw surface of clay.

 

He Initially fell in love with the feel of clay and the thrilling spin of the potter’s wheel while having to deal with the immediacy of the movement and moment of clay under hand.

The philosophy of the Tao Te Ching and Wabi Sabi have been very influential in his work and life as the Way of the teacher as student. Being of a practical mind he learned to make pots and trained as a functional potter learning to make cups bowls and other utilitarian forms. Gradually he became interested in drawing, sculpture and installation art as an expression of clay and its relationship to the metaphor of the human form. His large-scale figurative terra-cotta sculptures draw inspiration from ethnographic art and mythological archetype using the firing’s flash to add organic emphasis to the surface.

 

He accidentally became a teacher by helping other students to learn how to make pottery in college classrooms and elsewhere. He has a Master of Fine Art Degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with an emphasis in ceramics and sculpture. Currently he is Professor of Ceramics and Art Department Chair at South Suburban College near Chicago Illinois.

 

“I make art like I cook, There’s a recipe… and then you forget it, making do with what’s in front of you... Art, Cooking, Life, Teaching… it all blends within the Way, the recipe’s lost, but reinvented.”

                                                                                                Jack Kirkpatrick

 

Jack Kirkpatrick will be on Saba during the 3rd & 4th week of May! Join his 4 day Ceramics public workshop scheduled for the 21st, 22nd, 25th & 28th of May 2018.  See our schedule for more details.

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