John Roberts Ceramics

BIO

John Roberts has been a working artist and educator since 1999. After finishing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas, he continued to the graduate program at Georgia State University, where he completed a Master of Fine Arts degree in 2001.

While in grad school, John started working as the ceramics art technician for Chastain Arts Center in Atlanta. He later became Project Coordinator and continued developing programs for the clay studio for 16 years. In 2015, John started teaching at Georgia State University as a pottery and 3-D Design instructor until the summer of 2017, when he accepted the position as Ceramics Program Director at Callanwolde Arts Center.

John's work is influenced by wheel-thrown ceramics, from functional pottery to sculptural forms. His latest work is a series of vessels painted with glazes and engobes, and multi-fired to layer texture and color.

NEBULA SERIES ARTIST STATEMENT

I am intrigued by the chemistry of the human brain, physically attaching our bodies to reality, and creating an imagination that can reach beyond time and space. There are over 100 trillion synapses in the brain that relay messages to the nervous system. These nanoscopic chemical reactions dictate how we interact with the present world, while at the same time connecting us to the abstract and infinite macrocosm. I like to think of these painted vessels as fossils of past synaptic connections. They are deeply buried memories that are finally discovered.