Jim Gottuso
I am very interested in the complete cycle of creating clay objects. Functional demands inform aesthetics and vice versa creating an evolution that hopefully moves forward to better work. I like the imperfections that occur while aspiring to perfection and am learning to let them be. I do not set out with strict limitations and always allow some wiggle room to let something become something else. Consequently, each object’s creation is different for me, the immense frontier of possibilities keeps me exhilarated and wondering about the unknown results of the coming years of trial and error that all potters eventually get under their belts appeals to a sense of anticipation about the promise of the future.
For ceramic artist Jim Gottuso, the treatment of the surfaces of his pots is a give and take between control and spontaneity. He admires “the beauty that results from the certainty of mark-making that is derived from endless repetition” and is inspired by sources from abstract expressionism to graffiti tags. He uses a resist and etching technique to achieve a look that is similar to sgraffito, but allows for the looseness of brushwork over carving. Jim Gottuso lives and works in Louisville, Kentucky.
My sculpture background provides a subconscious foundation to decide whether a form satisfies my internal aesthetic or not. The evolution of the decorative motifs’ inspiration comes from admiring natural beauty as well as the gamut of manmade visual vocabularies. I tend to have a soft spot for artists that have explored mark-making as its own end.
I throw porcelain on the wheel and fire to cone 6 in an oxidation environment. One technique used frequently is painting a resist on the unfired piece and etching away the exposed area with water. This technique can be repeated with drying time in between to create layers of etched design. Sometimes a colored slip is applied to the exposed area after the etching that accentuates the design by boosting the contrast between the clay body and the etched area. Another technique that is present to varying degrees is chattering. This is achieved by holding a metal “rib” at a certain angle while the pottery wheel spins at a certain speed and then letting it bounce or vibrate along the surface of the vessel. The longer it is done, the deeper and more pronounced the chattering.