Jack Doherty

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.

Jack Doherty born in Co Derry, trained in Ceramics at the Ulster College of Art and Design. He worked at Kilkenny Design Workshops before setting up his first studio in Co Armagh. An internationally renowned maker, Doherty is currently Lead Potter and Creative Director at the Leach Pottery in St Ives, Cornwall.

September 2010	European Ceramics Context. Denmark
November 2010	Solo exhibition National University Taipei Taiwan
December 2010	"Tea Ceremony pots" Mitzukoshi gallery Tokyo
January 2011	"Through Fifty"  C.C.C  London
January 2011	Newlyn Art Gallery Cornwall
March 2011	Portfolio  National Craft Gallery Kilkenny
May 2011	"Collect" Saatchi Galleries London
June 2011	"Transform" Ceramics Ireland Dublin & Portadown
July 2011	Art Fair Tokyo Japan
August 2011	"Talking in Clay" Courtyard Arts Centre Hereford
February 2012	Ceramic Art London Royal College of Art
June 2012	"Vessels" Cill Rialaig Arts Centre Co Kerry
July 2012	"The Ethics of Objects" Kinsale Arts Festival
August 2012	"A Place In The World" Garden House Cornwall
November 2012	Jack Doherty and Tomoo Hamada Gallery St Ives Tokyo Japan