About Josh Herman

As a kid growing up in New York City, I never intended on becoming an artist. My interests in younger years revolved around playing sports and pursuing the family business, Wall Street. It wasn’t until 1987, when I transferred to Pitzer College in Claremont, California, that I stumbled upon a pottery class taught by Paul Soldner (April 24, 1921— January 3, 2011) the father of American – style raku and leader of the 1950’s ceramic revolution. Soldner’s methodology centered around embracing the accident and experimentation, tenets which inspire my work to this day and narrate my progression as an artist.

My life in Southern California introduced me to the Midcentury Modernist aesthetic, while advanced ceramic studies in Japan sparked my respect for Eastern principles, both central to my artistic process. I’ve been deeply guided by Hakomi, an experiential, mindfulness-based therapy rooted in Taoism. This discipline focuses on paying attention to what you’re experiencing in any given moment. In relation to ceramics, this process allows me to focus on the clay and interpret the final form as the clay reveals itself.

Clay has a language, a way of conveying its limitations and strengths. I tune into this dialogue in my attempt to connect with my material and create a natural progression, embracing experimentation and unexpected results. The Volcanic Glazes I’ve developed over many years, heighten this unexpected quality and are a great example of how controlled volatility, balanced with attention to organic expression, can produce harmonious results. As an artist, I investigate how the natural processes of clay making can access deeper levels of my conscious and unconscious psyche through improvisational abstract construction.

Clients