biography
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
For a good number of years now, I've worked with two traditional ceramic forms: the plate and the vase. Recently, I have started using large tiles. While the forms I use may differ, what has never changed has been my interest using slips and glazes to create highly decorative surfaces.If my work has developed any signature over the years, it has been this exploration of archetypal shapes by means of a decorative overlaying of pattern and color.
No one works in a vacuum, of course, and I have found myself consistently drawn to a certain set of cultures and artistic styles. Of particular interest to me has been American Anasazi Indian pottery for its geometric patterns, Italian Majolica for its exuberant decorative style, and Minoan and Mycenaean ceramics for their bold and dynamic forms. These influences, along with my lifelong interest in contemporary art, have provided me with a solid foundation and useful point of departure for my own self-expression. The result, I believe, has been a serious body of work that represents a marriage of historical precedent, contemporary cultural influence, and personal vision.
My work has been acquired for the permanent collections of a number of European and American museums, among them the American Craft Museum, the St. Louis Art Museum, the Detroit Institute of Art, and the Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg, Germany.
John Donoghue
Bethesda, Maryland