BEN WATERMAN
OREGON

I
I often wonder what it means to be a wood-fire potter positioned in our historic context. Certainly, it is a pattern and rhythm of life that works in opposition to our current culture of speed, efficiency, and mass production. It allows for a specific type of beauty to be witnessed, a beauty, that is tied to the work of many hands and acknowledges the earth and elements that have helped give it life. I believe that being a wood-fire potter is a hopeful way to exist in this world.
II
If drinking from a tea bowl that I have made, I want there to be a feeling of drinking from a craggy mountain pool, hands together. If placing flowers in a vase that I have made, I want there to be the feeling of a bloom pushing its way up between stones.
III
As much as possible I attempt to welcome the fire and its varied expressions as one would a dear friend. In this way, stacking the kiln, preparing the wood, warming the ware slowly, is like preparing a table for a guests; drink, flowers, something delicious to eat, fiddle music. When I approach firing in this way, I have to continually think about how to be a good host to the fire, coal, heat, and ash.
IV
In India, as I watched a woman burn away layer upon layer; white cotton covering, hair, clothes, skin, muscle, tendons, stomach, nails both hands and feet, then to the bone—we are layers. Clay tells this story too of our multiple selves. This is always on my mind when making.
V
Over the last year my posturing towards re-firing has shifted significantly. One story, Chuck Hindes told me recently contributed to this change. He recalled: “When I went to meet Shige Morioka in Japan, he had just unloaded a kiln. All the fired pieces were laid out on the ground. Morioka had just fired because he had an exhibition coming up in a few days. He wasn’t satisfied with the pots that came out at all. We drank some sake, had a good talk, and he showed me around. When I left, Morioka started loading the kiln again, not new pieces, but the very same pieces that he just had fired--all re-fired work.” This story impressed me because it indicated a certain commitment to my work that was lacking and offered a realization that to create work that is congruent with my personal aesthetics, rugged scrutiny and an uncompromising attitude are necessary. In other words, such stories became questions that have attacked an ease of creation that I had before: Does the work posses a semblance between form and surface that is within my own vision? Is another layer necessary--removed or applied? What, if anything, am I willingly compromising? When I compromise, is it out of convenience, economic pressure, deadlines, impatience, or is it in the best interest of the vessel? Simply, do I feel as if I am making the best work I can?
1997 Began study of ceramics and the Japanese Tea Ceremony (Yabunouchi style).

1998 Bachelor of Arts, Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA.

1999 Studied ceramics in Japan. Helped design and construct a split-bamboo style anagama kiln near Osaka with Toyoda Kohji. Continued study of the tea ceremony and began study of flower arrangement.

2000 Assisted Toyoda Kohji in teaching ceramics, Whitman College. Studied ceramics with Jim Romberg at Southern Oregon University, Ashland, OR.

2001 Returned to Japan to continue study of wood firing. Fired anagama style kilns in Shigaraki and on the island of Shikoku. Studied ceramics at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ and constructed a “train kiln” while there.

2002 Ceramics studio lab technician at Southern Oregon University. Began firing wood kilns in the Washington state area. Assisted Steve Sauer with an international wood fire workshop, Alberta, Canada.

2003 Continued work as a lab technician at Southern Oregon University and constructed a soda kiln. Continued firing wood kilns in the Washington region.

2004 Freeman grant visiting ceramic artist and translator for Toyoda Khoji at Whitman College, Spring semester. Facilitated in bringing Whitman students to Kyoto, Japan to study the relationship between Buddhist sites and the tea ceremony. Assisted in designing and construction of a hybrid wood kiln, Index WA for Peter Olsen (director of Seward Park Ceramic Studio, Seattle WA).

2005 Graduate studies with Chuck Hindes at The University of Iowa. Will teach a wood-fire workshop for Red Deer College Summer Series, Alberta Canada.
Selected Exhibitions

2002
Exploration of Form and Surface at Southern Oregon University, Ashland, OR
International Wood Fire Exhibition at The Prairie Art Gallery, Grand Prairie, Alberta Canada
Teapot Invitational at The Columbia City Seward Part Art Gallery, Seattle, WA
Bishogama Exhibition at Prairie North Gallery, Fort St. John, B.C. Canada
Northwest Mingei Pottery Invitational at Glenn Richards, Seattle, WA
Wood Fire Invitational at Phoenix Rising Gallery, Seattle, WA

2003
N.C.E.C.A. National Juried Exhibition, San Diego University, San Diego, CA
Interpretations of Ikebana: Expressions of Decomposition at Nuwandart Gallery, Ashland, OR
Northwest Mingei Pottery Invitational at Glenn Richards, Seattle, WA
Wood Fire Exhibition at Muse Gallery, Grand Prairie, Alberta, Canada
Sixth Annual Cup Invitational at Fifth Element Gallery, Portland, OR

2004
Ash and Fire: Traveling Exhibition (This exhibition will travel throughout Canada for two years), made possible through the support of the Alberta Foundation For The Arts.
The Plain, The Bold, The Elegant: Tea Spaces in the Yabunouchi Tradition, at Whitman College Sheehan Gallery, Walla Walla, WA (I both curated and participated in this exhibition)
Committing To Flame: The Next Generation in Wood Fire Ceramics, at Phoenix Rising Gallery, Seattle, WA (I both curated and participated in this exhibition)
Gems From The Fire: 2004 Juried International Wood Fire Exhibition, at Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, IA

Upcoming Exhibitions:

2005
May, AKAR, Iowa City, IA
August, Red Deer College Instructors Exhibition, AB, Canada
November, Northwest Mingei Pottery Invitational, at Glenn Richards, Seattle, WA

2006
March, group exhibition to include National Living Treasure Tatsuzo Shimaoka, Shiho Kanzaki, Toyoda Mokugen, Dick Lehman, Chuck Hindes, Peter Olsen, Steven Sullivan, and Ben Waterman, Honey Church Antiques, Seattle, WA
April, Nature and Will: A One Man Wood-Fire Exhibition, Pendleton, OR
April, Sogetsu Arrangements in Wood- Fired Containers by Yabe Keishu and Ben Waterman, Whitman College, WA
May, Ephmeral Combinations: Northwest Wood-Firers and Sogetsu Expressions (Group exhibition), Seattle, WA
November, Northwest Mingei Pottery Invitational, at Glenn Richards, Seattle, WA

Upcoming Workshops, Lectures, and Teaching:
April 2005, Looking and Seeing: Developing Pattern In Ceramic Vessels, Kirkwood College, IA
April 2005, Creating Forms For Atmospheric Firing, Iowa Weslyan University, IA
July-August 2005 Red Deer Summer Series: Wood-Fire Workshop, Alberta Canada
September 2005, Working with Flame: A Wood-Fire Class, Seward Park Clay Studio, Seattle, WA
April 2006, Historic and Contemporary Expressions of Wood-Firing, Whitman College Lecture.

Awards:
2004 Alberta Foundation For The Arts
2004 Freeman Grant Recipient, visiting ceramic artist at Whitman College
2004 Wilhelm and Jane Bodine Fellowship.
2004 Best of Show at Gems From The Fire: 2004 Juried International Wood Fire Exhibition, Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, IA
2005 Freeman Grant Recipient

Collections:
Whitman College, Tea Utensil Collection
Iowa Weslyan University, Permanent Ceramic Collection
Kirkwood College, Permanent Ceramic Collection
Gregg Tralle, Private Collection
Steve Dickenson, Private Collection
John W. Stinson, Private Collection

Work Published:
Ceramics Monthly, September 2004

Represented By:
AKAR, Iowa City, IA
The Contemporary Crafts Museum and Gallery, Portland, OR
The White Lotus Gallery, Eugene, OR