About
I make sculptures, paintings, photos, drawings and functional objects. My ceramic sculptures are an investigation into representations of environmental balance and depictions of ideas that can only be realized in sculpture. I am motivated by the limitations of native clays, the demanding wood fire process and by the necessity to communicate clearly.
John Larson is an artist who lives and works in rural southwest Minnesota. He creates tableware from local materials as well as ceramic sculpture.
John began his journey in ceramics at the age of fourteen. He built several small wood kilns in order to understand wood combustion and ceramic chemistry. In the summer of 2007 he worked as a summer assistant at the St. John’s Pottery. He attended Utah State University to pursue wood-firing. He has travelled and lived in Korea where he assisted Onngi potter Oh Hyang Jong. He presented at the 2nd European Woodfire Conference at Guldagergaard in Skælskør, Denmark and at the 16th Kohila Woodfire residency in Kohila, Estonia. He has received a number of Southwest Minnesota arts council established career artist project grants and two Minnesota state arts board grants. He maintains a ceramic studio and wood kiln sanctuary in Milan, Minnesota. John studied physics at the University of MN in Morris, MN. He currently works at the West Central Research and Outreach Center as a renewable energy researcher in Morris, MN.
EXHIBITION HISTORY
2021 From Our House to Yours American Swedish Institute Minneapolis, MN
2021 Solo show at Brookings Art Council Brookings, SD
2019 Solo show at the Pearson Lakes Art Center Okoboji, IA
2018 Emerging Artists show Cultural Confluence Wood Fire Symposium Helena, MT
2017 Greater Minnesota Artists Showcase MN State Arts Board, St. Paul, MN
2017 10 Years in the Making NCECA’s 51st Annual Conference Portland, OR
2016 International Woodfire Conference Waubonsee College Sugar Grove, IL
2015 Back Room Eutectic Gallery Portland, OR
2015 New Works in Clay and Paper SMAC Gallery Marshall, MN
2014 Symbolon Greater Milan Initiative Milan, MN
2014 Red River Reciprocity The Plains Art Museum Fargo, ND
2013 Slip Slab Coil Pinch Press Throw Eutectic Gallery Portland, OR
2013 The Unexpected Max Jackson Gallery, Queens University of Charlotte, NC
2013 Artifacts from the Inferno Baltimore Clay Works Baltimore, MD
2013 This is Where the Sauce is at Missoula Clay Center Missoula, MT
2013 Cognition Eutectic Gallery Portland, OR
2013 Clay and Paper Prairie Renaissance Cultural Alliance Morris, MN
2009 International Ceramic Sculpture Festival Cheong-Ju South Korea
2009 Jilin College of Art Summer Ceramics Symposium traveling exhibition Changchun, China
2008 Pots and Prints Utah State University Logan, UT
WORKSHOP And RESIDENCY
2016 16th Kohila Woodfire residency Kohila, Estonia
2014 2nd European Woodfire Conference Guldagergaard, Skælskør, Denmark
2013 Rutgers University Lecture New Brunswick, NJ
2013 Missoula Clay Center, MT
2013 Queens University Charlotte, NC
2010 Double Whammy Woodfire Las Vegas, NV
2009 International Ceramic Sculpture Festival Cheong-Ju, South Korea
2009 International Ceramic Symposium Jilin College Changchun, China
2008 Assistant to Mistuo Kakutani Paper Clay Workshop NDSU Fargo, ND
2008 Lecture and Demonstration Women’s Ceramic Studio Gwang- Ju, South Korea
GRANTS AND AWARDS
Southwest Minnesota Arts Council Individual Artist Grant 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018
Minnesota State Arts Board Individual Artist Grant 2015
Minnesota State Arts Board Artist support Grant 2020
