Artist Profile

Tour Status:

I will only be open during the FIRST weekend this year. Mostly indoor, both studio and gallery. Windows open in the studio with air purifier on. Please don't crowd the studio or gallery (about 6 people maximum--these are pretty small spaces).

Originally from the Northwest, with a B.A. from Stanford University, I have painted, published illuminated books, and lived and traveled extensively in Asia. Now working primarily in ceramic sculpture, I draw images from the deep well of past experience, always starting from a strong "mind's eye" vision.

My work as a ceramist has focused on the interplay of traditional forms and sculptural expression. I use the vessel form conceptually, because clay vessels have an inside, an inner dimension. An enclosed form is extroverted; it displaces space and interacts with its environment. Imagine the same enclosed form but with a small entrance to a discreet interior. The form becomes introverted, self-contained; it has an existential presence connected to its mysterious inner space. In the ancient world, vessels were used functionally, but also metaphorically in ritual and literature, employing some of the same ideas of interiority. Looking back to these antecedents, I treat the metaphor of the inner as a resonant subject matter for non-functional ceramic art pieces. Implied are the dichotomies between the inner and outer, the hidden and the seen, the created world and the ineffable mystery. Cutting through the wall and changing the angles of the various connecting planes in my complex tessellated patterns, I create deep relief, a dynamic movement that leads the eye to the inside of the vessel, opening a dialogue between the vessel’s outer planes and inner spaces.

An ongoing project is to use this visual language to explore human consciousness via the portrait in my “Refracted Journeys: Portraits” series. This series expands my concept of the “inside” of the vessel to the head and our notion of consciousness, implying the refracted nature of the psyche and its ineffable journey. You can read more about this project on my website.

I show my work during the Tour at my studio at my home in the forest. You can also see my work at FRANK at 370 E. Main St. Suite 130 in Carrboro. My work is also represented by the Duane Reed Gallery in St. Louis, Galerie Wolfsen in Aalborg, Denmark, as well as at the Centerpiece Gallery in Raleigh, NC.

To see more about my work, go to: earthembracingspace.com  or check out my Instagram page at: @jernst345

List of Current Images, going left to right from the top:

1. "Terraced in Green"; glazed stoneware; 10.5" X 9"

2. "Autumn Snow" (from above); glazed stoneware; 9" X 14"

3. "Wings"; glazed stoneware; 23" X 14"

4. "Rhythm in Thirds 2"; glazed stoneware; 12" X 9"

5. "Mossy Periderm 3" (from above); glazed stoneware; 9.5" X 8.5"

6. "Rain Bands 2"; glazed stoneware 7" X 11"

7. "Exoskeleton"; glazed stoneware; 8.5" X 10.5"

8. "From the Depths"; glazed stoneware; 15" X 12.5"

9. "Journey to the Source 3"; glazed stoneware, 14.5" X 10"