John
Parker
Philosophy /
Statement
“I
have always made things.
As
an only child my early resourceful passions were for chemistry sets,
puppetry, homemade museums and conjuring tricks.
My forms and aesthetic, of the stark and the industrial, have always put
me out of step with the craft based organic oriented mainstream of NZ
pottery. I owe more to the philosophy of the European design movements of
de Stijl and the Bauhaus, than to the NZ preoccupation with the East and
Zen.
I
subscribe to the idea of the Renaissance Man. I write Film Reviews, and
contributed regularly to the late N Z Potter Magazine, of which I was on
the editorial committee. Along with my ceramics, I maintain the parallel
career as a designer of Theatre Sets and Costumes. I like my own
exhibitions to always contain surprises. They are always staged, with the
pieces presented as much for the dramatic effect as for the objects
themselves.
When
working in clay, I see myself following in the traditions of being just a
craft potter. Each piece is hand-made and unique. I throw and turn all my
work on the potter’s wheel. I make ware which is easily recognisable as
the classical pottery vessel, bottle or bowl, but my special concern is to
push the concepts of these as far as possible into severe minimalism and
into the functional/non-functional debate to explore the very essence of
defining these ideas.
For
me my life is a successful marriage of all my interests. I make no
distinction between them, even if trying to define what I actually do for
a job bothers other people. Whether working on a monthly magazine copy, a
theatre piece or an exhibition of ceramics, there are the same pressures
and unalterable deadlines. The same themes flow through your work and the
same processes of stylisation, fine-tuning and attention to detail apply.
The adrenaline rushes on publication dates, at exhibition openings and on
first nights are just the same.”