Artist's Background

Josh Goering was born and raised in Kansas City, Kansas. He graduated from the University of Kansas receiving a BFA in Ceramics and BA in Environmental studies in 2021.  The work he makes focuses on functional pottery and the use of local material. He is influenced by historical ceramics from Joseon dynasty Korean pots to medieval European jugs and tankards. Josh’s ideas surrounding art making carry much from his environmental disposition, his love of process, and an inquisitive nature surrounding material. Over the last year Josh was a ceramics studio intern at STARworks in North Carolina, a local clay making facility with an Artist in Residence program. In his time there  he was surrounded by artists from across the globe, generational potters from the seagrove area and centuries of ceramics history. Josh is now back at the University of Kansas doing a Post-Baccalaureate year resuming a research project into Kansas ceramics materials that was started the semester of his graduation.

Artist's Statement

Clay is a storyteller, adept at recording and sharing moments. The material retains a history of each action it experiences through a story told on its surface and in the form. I am a potter who is focused on making functional objects to record these moments. I throw and trim in a slow manner to emphasize the role my hand plays. I pour reactive slips onto my works to show stages in the firing process, whether it is subtle oxidation spots on a gas fired bowl, flashing from an atmospheric firing or simple wad marks on dark red clay. The surfaces range from austere and wintery to dark and dusky. I seek contrast by investigating ideas of light and dark, positive and negative, veiled or unveiled, processed or unprocessed.

For the past few years I have utilized local materials to harmonize my ecological mindset with the body of work I create. Local clay speaks about place and geography, the voice of each clay varies as quickly as the topography changes. One may be smooth and buttery containing a lot of iron, while across the river or under the field ‘over there’ it may be inundated with sand and rocks. Local clays connect the work I make back to the landscape and ground it regionally telling the story of a material world at a certain place during a specific time.

I am constantly inspired by characteristics present in old pots. Whether it is in the flowing curves and strong lines of sturdy baluster jugs from medieval England, or the quality in cut feet of simple rice bowls from the Joseon dynasty. The thread that connects them together is the intentional approach to the making process and an inherent clay quality that shines through.

The pots I make are meant for daily use and to show the history behind the object. Throwing lines are made by pulling up, the pitted and undulating surfaces from scraping or trimming, finger marks are left in slip from dipping and pouring. These subtle marks provide the user with an experience of discovery through the act of observing, drinking, pouring, or eating out of each object. The work is most successful when the qualities of the clay speak, the hand of the maker is evident, and the form and
surfaces act as connecting lines to the past.