JOHN PARKER
P E R M U TAT I O N S AND COMBINATIONS 22 MAY – 12 JUNE 2021 OPENING 22 MAY 2PM – 4PM
My practice involves making bodies of work in themed series. I like to impose a strict set or rules for a series and then see how I can subvert these rules by designing my way out of my pre-painted corner. Designing and making my work involves the ongoing process of decision making. Within my strict rules for Permutations, of one clay and one glaze and wheel thrown turned decoration, the questions become the subtle internal dialogue of : which form, where to place a line, its weight, a groove or a ridge, its spacing. These are all variables that make the permutations infinite. The Combinations as a contrast similarly have rules: one clay, one form but five glazes on each piece. The decisions here involve; the choice of coloured glazes, matt or glossy, smooth or textured, the order of application, juxtapositioning odd combinations, luck. My working methods and glaze information and videos explaining my work are on my website https://www.johnparker.co.nz
P E R M U TAT I O N S
1. MATT WHITE GROOVED BOTTLE H.255mm D.75mm $425.00 2. MATT WHITE GROOVED BOTTLE H.230mm D.75mm $415.00 3. MATT WHITE GROOVED BOTTLE H.235mm D.80mm $425.00 4. MATT WHITE GROOVED BOTTLE H.255mm D.65mm $425.00 5. MATT WHITE GROOVED BOTTLE H.220mm D.80mm $415.00
6. MATT WHITE ZIG ZAG BOTTLE H.215mm D.100mm $415.00 7. MATT WHITE ZIG ZAG BOTTLE H.235mm D.90mm $425.00 8. MATT WHITE ZIG ZAG BOTTLE H.185mm D.105mm $395.00 9. MATT WHITE ZIG ZAG BOTTLE H.250mm D.110mm $450.00
10. MATT WHITE ZIG ZAG VESSEL H.390mm W.110mm $650.00
11. MATT WHITE GROOVED BOTTLE H.370mm D.130mm $625.00 12. MATT WHITE GROOVED BOTTLE H.335mm D.140mm $575.00 13. MATT WHITE GROOVED BOTTLE H.370mm D.130mm $625.00 14. MATT WHITE GROOVED BOTTLE H.335mm D.135mm $575.00
15. MATT WHITE GROOVED BOTTLE H.230mm D.105mm $415.00 16. MATT WHITE GROOVED BOTTLE H.390mm D.130mm $650.00 17. MATT WHITE GROOVED BOTTLE H.370mm D.135mm $625.00
18. MATT WHITE GROOVED VESSEL H.335mm W.145mm $625.00
19. MATT WHITE GROOVED VESSEL H.345mm W.130mm $650.00
20. MATT WHITE STEMMED BOWL H.260mm W.230mm $750.00
21. MATT WHITE STEMMED BOWL H.285mm W.230mm $795.00
22. MATT WHITE GROOVED BOWL H.185mm W.240mm $450.00
23. MATT WHITE GROOVED BOWL H.170mm W.220mm $415.00
24. MATT WHITE GROOVED V BOWL H.175mm D.165mm $415.00 25. MATT WHITE GROOVED V BOWL H.210mm D.200mm $450.00 26. MATT WHITE GROOVED V BOWL H.190mm D.175mm $425.00
27. MATT WHITE GROOVED BOTTLE H.235mm D.105mm $415.00 28. MATT WHITE GROOVED BOTTLE H.290mm D.145mm $425.00 29. MATT WHITE GROOVED BOTTLE H.300mm D.95mm $425.00 30. MATT WHITE GROOVED BOTTLE H.195mm D.100mm $325.00 31. MATT WHITE GROOVED BOTTLE H.290mm D.140mm $425.00
32. MATT WHITE GROOVED VESSEL H.345mm W.135mm $650.00
33. MATT WHITE GROOVED BOTTLE H.175mm D.100mm $415.00 34. MATT WHITE GROOVED BOTTLE H.220mm D.110mm $425.00 35. MATT WHITE GROOVED BOTTLE H.200mm D.95mm $425.00 36. MATT WHITE GROOVED BOTTLE H.215mm D.70mm $425.00
C O M B I N AT I O N S
37. POLYCHROME VESSEL H.250mm W.140mm $525.00
38. POLYCHROME VESSEL H.180mm D.120mm $415.00 39. POLYCHROME VESSEL H.235mm D.120mm $495.00 40. POLYCHROME VESSEL H.185mm D.125mm $415.00
41. POLYCHROME VESSEL H.165mm D.105mm $415.00 42. POLYCHROME VESSEL H.180mm D.120mm $425.00 43. POLYCHROME VESSEL H.160mm D.105mm $415.00
44. POLYCHROME VESSEL H.210mm D.135mm $475.00
45. POLYCHROME VESSEL H.220mm D.130mm $495.00
46. POLYCHROME VESSEL H.200mm D.130mm $450.00 47. POLYCHROME VESSEL H.200mm D.130mm $450.00 48. POLYCHROME VESSEL H.185mm D.120mm $425.00
49. POLYCHROME PORTAL H.65mm D.255mm $475.00
50. POLYCHROME PORTAL H.75mm D.245mm $475.00
51. POLYCHROME PORTAL H.65mm D.255mm $475.00
52. POLYCHROME VOLCANIC PORTAL H.60mm D.255mm $425.00
53. POLYCHROME VOLCANIC PORTAL H.75mm D.325mm $525.00
54. POLYCHROME VOLCANIC PORTAL H.90mm D.340mm $550.00
55. POLYCHROME VOLCANIC PORTAL H.85mm D.315mm $525.00
“John Parker is considered to be one of the leading studio potters in New Zealand. His long involvement with the New Zealand ceramics community formally began with his completion of a Master of Arts (ceramics) from the Royal College of Art in London in 1975. At the time he was one of the few local potters to hold formal training in his area, and this period - during which he was heavily influenced by European artists Lucie Rie and Hans Coper - gave a strong foundation for the disciplined and intelligent style for which he is now recognised. Parker has often engaged with pointed intellectual arguments in the creation of his work - most obviously the debate surrounding the handmade; craft versus production in ceramics. His work draws an obvious parallel with a coveted series of early New Zealand production ceramics from manufacturer Crown Lynn, particularly the work of Ernest Shufflebotham in the 1950s, which itself came out of the work that NZ architect Keith Murray designed for Wedgewood in the 1930s. Crown Lynn took the unusual step at the time of employing artisans and designers to create their ranges of mass produced domestic ceramics. The examination of this handmade/mass produced dichotomy is a contunual investigation in his work.”