Eric Jager

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/e.jager/

Biography: 

Eric Jager is a ceramic artist currently based out of Syracuse, New York. Jager, hailing originally from Fairbanks, Alaska, first got into working with clay during a high school art class. Jager’s love for ceramics continued as he went on to get his BFA from the University of South Alabama. In his time in Alabama he became captivated by the potter’s wheel as a tool and by the crafting of vessels.

After graduation Jager headed back up to his rural roots in Alaska, where became a post baccalaureate student at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Being back in Alaska, the vivid colors and rugged landscapes offered plenty of inspiration for his work. In his time at UAA Jager also became enamored with the process of firing his work in atmospheric kilns.

After two years of working in the Anchorage studio Jager decided that it was a good time to transition back into the academic scene full time and continue his education. Jager is currently working on his MFA in studio arts at Syracuse University.

Artist Statement: 

My work has been greatly informed by growing up in Alaska, a place where the juxtaposition of nature and industry is so prevalent. The vibrant, lush landscapes are full of forms with many different colors and textures, offering much to drawn from. As an artist, the ceramic vessel has been the primary subject of my interest.  I am fascinated in the vessel’s long standing place in the history of craft and its link to both nature and culture.

My work often begins on the potter’s wheel by throwing a variety of base forms. I then alter these forms to setup movement and swelling contours within a variety of components. When the clay is leather hard, I carve their exteriors. For me piercing the surfaces helps activate them and open them up so that the form’s interaction with light becomes more prevalent.  Then, using the vessel as a framework, I take these carved components and assemble them into variety compositions. Within my current work I am enjoying finishing these vessels in atmospheric kilns. I am interested in how the traditional effects of those types of firings interacts with the pierced exterior of these forms.

These compositions are meant to talk about the interactions between manufactured and organic forms out in the world. I am interested in the overlap between these two worlds and where they collide, but also in how and where they compromise. By using different types of components within these compositions I can allude to some of the interactions and growth we see all throughout our world. These arrangements of forms are left vague in nature so that the viewer can resonate with the work in their own way. I enjoy that the viewer is given the power to decide what the narrative of each composition. They can decide whether these forms are conflicting or compromising and what their place in the world is.