Contact Information

John Cummings is a ceramic artist currently living in the Asheville, NC area. His studio is located at Southside Studios. He earned a B.S. from the University of Southern Indiana and an M.F.A from the University of Mississippi. After graduate school he spent three years as an artist assistant for Jun Kaneko, where he learned to build extremely large work. Currently, he is an adjunct professor of art at University of North Carolina Asheville.

“My surface decorations are inspired by abstract expressionism. The implied gesture, movement, and boldness that abstract expressionism has achieved exhilarates me. Through the use of line and color, I am inspired to create bold and gestural surfaces in my work. I try to achieve these types of surfaces by marking the work using pencils, sticks, brushes, bright colors, and the free-flowing nature of glazes.

The use of various firing methods leads to exciting and interesting possibilities. Each piece requires a different process: from cleaner surfaces of an electric firing, to wild more dramatic surfaces of atmospheric high firing. The use of soda, salt, or wood firing allows the kiln to paint the work and give more variation in the surface.

The nature of clay and its historical context is the strength that lies with working in clay. Every interaction, during every stage, through research to firing, I am enamored with clay and its possibilities. Continuing to drive me to explore and create."

Visit John's website to view his work.