Jordan Becker

I started studying ceramics passionately in my early twenties following some classes I took at Bennington College. Prior to working in ceramics and the arts I considered myself a builder, working as a welder and a carpenter I loved the satisfaction of working with different materials and creating objects both useful and pleasing. Clay I discovered had endless possibility, each step in the process from first shaping the wet clay to the glassifying of the surface allowed for injection of ideas and honed craft. About 15 year ago I began firing my ceramics in kilns fueled by wood. Ever since I stoked that first bundle of sticks into a woodkiln I have held that process as a core part of my making. The building of different types of woodkilns, and learning how best to fire them to achieve a surface became an important layer in my work. I began asking myself, what if the kiln was the art? What if the firing was a performance pieces, what if I fired a kiln for an entire week, or two? Working and building these kilns have inspired a great deal of making for me in the past 15 years and I continue to explore this area.

In 2008 I began working at an art center that focused on artist residencies. At the art center (Salem Art Works) I started a program that focused on building and firing woodkilns. I was looking to create a space that allowed artists to gather around community kilns, fire their work while sharing ideas, stories and experiences. Directing this program has allowed me to continue to build new and innovative community kilns, explore different facets of this process, while working in an environment where I can both act as the mentor and the student. My personal clay work has flowed and transformed though the years. From teapots to larger abstract sculptures, I find that fire, water and stone have continued to be constant threads that run though the bones of my work.