John Ward

Born in 1938 London, John Ward is regarded as one of Britons greatest potters. Influenced by ancient pre-glaze pottery from China and Cypress he was inspired by more modem influences such as Hans Coper’s formal strength, Lucie Rie’s colour palette and Ian Godfrey’s playful textures.

In 1966 Ward was accepted onto the Camberwell School of Art and Crafts Ceramics course after developing a fascination with pottery during Adult Education classes. After graduating he worked as a part time pottery teacher in London while also developing his studio. In 1979 he and moved to Pembrokeshire where he still resides and works.

‘There is something compelling about the making of pots, regardless of function, which keeps me within the particular sphere; they are the focus of some many interests and associations. My aim is to make pots which have simple forms with integral decoration and aspects which can interact with the environment in interesting ways; to try and express a balance between these dynamic qualities and a sense of stillness or containment. Form above all, but expressed through light and colour’ John Ward

Source: https://www.joannabird.com/artist/john-ward/

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The leading hand-builder John Ward was born in 1938, and trained at Camberwell College of Arts in the 1960s. He is one of a number of significant modern potters to have concentrated on the pared down individual vessel form, most particularly the bowl, as a touchstone for exploration. His generally simple work has been augmented by more complex structures, the shapes cut and altered, perhaps with abstract, geometric decoration and cut-away rims that give some of his pieces an architectural quality. In addition to urban surfaces, his work evokes honed natural forms, the kind of bonier, elemental landscape he has lived in since he moved close to the Welsh coast in 1979. His best pots speak eloquently of the limitless language of the bowl and globular jar, their sculptural and metaphorical resonances.

Immediately, the patterned surface decoration of John Ward’s ceramics recalls the pre-glazed pottery of ancient Egypt and China, but the pleasingly simple graphic element of his work belies the complex hand-building of each vessel he creates. His experimentation in cutting and rejoining clay bodies results in innovative forms and textured surfaces which are often inspired by the natural elements of the landscape in which he lives and works. Ward’s ceramic artwork is found in the permanent collections of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and The Museum of Modern Art, New York.