I hand-build ceramic sculptures shaped by the textures, cultures, and complexities of the landscapes I’ve called home—echoing a career in multilateral diplomacy.

 

My practice explores the interplay between strength and fragility, inspired by the resilience of life in harsh environments. From the austere mountains of Afghanistan to the fertile flow of South Sudan’s White Nile, from the submerged ridgelines of the Musandam Peninsula to the untamed rainforests of the Dominican Republic, these places—and the communities that endure within them—inform the visual tension in my work.

 

Large forms balanced on impossibly fine supports, structures that seem to hover between movement and collapse, each piece carries subtle imperfections, deliberate reminders that endurance is never flawless. I use high-risk processes, pushing the limits of balance and form to hold movement within stillness. My surfaces remain visibly imperfect: rough clay left unglazed, or lined with reflective glazes that catch light like water.

 

In a world that often prizes symmetry and polish, I offer objects that tilt, lean, and drift. I hope they evoke not only nature’s resilience, but also the quiet, often unseen structures that support it —and us. The contrasts in my work emerge gradually: the asymmetries, the precariousness, the quiet strength. Each piece stands as a testament to the lessons of survival and the beauty found in imperfection.

 

The same elements that shape the land and forge resilience form the foundations of my practice: earth turned by water, hardened by fire, and touched by air. In this way, the place and the process mirror one another.

      -Kathleen Keene Jones 

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Instagram: @kathleenkeenejonesart

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