Lea Friesen
Ceramics
13 March 2014
Research and Critique Paper
Samuel Johnson was born on the Eastern prairie of the Red River Valley in 1973. Johnson did his schooling at the University of Minnesota, Morris. After Johnson graduated, he apprenticed with Richard Bresnahan for three years. Then in 2000 Johnson studied at Denmark’s Design School in Copenhagen. While he was there he had a job at the International Ceramic Center in Skaelskor. n 2001, Sam traveled to Japan and worked for a time in the studio of the renowned potter Koie Ryoji.
After returning to the U.S. he enrolled in the graduate program at the University of Iowa, completing his masters in fine arts in 2005. Then Sam became an assistant professor of art at the College of Saint Benedict & Saint John’s University, St. Joseph, MN He is now an assistant professor of art at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University in South Central Minnesota. Sam is also on the ArtAxis.org Board of Directors. Samuel Johnson has had a lot of exhibitions including one in Grand Rapids at the MacRostie Art Center in 2008. But he has been all over the world from Seattle to Tokyo showing off his artwork. He started doing exhibitions in 2006 and he still does the today. His next exhibition is in 2015 in St. Paul.
I was curious as to how Samuel Johnson made his artwork look so unique. I think it is interesting how he fire his work and lets the wood and melting ashes make his surfaces have irregular textures. I like how Samuel Johnson’s work is simple shapes with a natural rustic look. I like how he doesn’t try to make his work look perfectly smooth or painted evenly. I love they way he stains them so the stain just drips down the sides and leaves an uneven texture in images 1 and 2. I like the precise detail he has around the tops of images 1 and 2. I think it’s pretty awesome the way he intentionally screws up to give it a rough old aging look. It looks professionally done, yet simple