Joanna Bloom
Ceramics
I grew up in Connecticut, on land that abutted a vast woodland, where I spent much of my free time as a child. Those years were blissfully freeing and formative, with long days exploring the woods by horseback, swimming in ponds and streams. My early experiences with clay were in the banks of the river where we swam. It held a magic to me then, as it does now.
I continue to be drawn to the way clay’s immediacy and unpredictability inspire experimentation. I am driven by an intuitive process, which I attempt to support through the use of simple tools and techniques. I rework a small repertoire of objects that hold symbolic meaning for me. Those objects reference numerous sources: the rich history of self-taught art, womanhood, material culture, and the landscape of the Pacific Northwest where I have lived now for nearly 30 years.