Brian Jensen

Artist Statement

Glaze exploration and innovation is the focus of my artistic efforts in my ceramic work. This focus on the ceramic surface influences the forms I make, the scale of the work and my creative process.

About seventeen years ago, during grad-school, I realized that the technical challenges that are necessary in the mastery of specialty glazes were the driving forces in my ceramic production. Since then I have re-invented and developed many ceramic glaze techniques and formulas which include: crystalline glazes, acid etching, post-fire reduction, use of inclusion/ encapsulated stains, use of rare-earth metals, carbon-trapping and colored Shinos, molybdenum crystalline glazes, glaze iridescence, photo-luminescence in glaze, manganese-saturate glazes and several groups of luster glazes.

The techniques and formulas for many specialty glazes that are found through ceramic history disappeared when artists died or when companies were closed. Sadly, many of these revered glaze treatments have been thought to be unattainable by today’s ceramic artists. I spend much of my studio time researching and deciphering how these challenging glaze surfaces where achieved. When breakthroughs are made, I combine the once “lost” information with contemporary materials and technology to achieve results that are potentially innovative. These new results are especially exciting when one considers the thousands of years of ceramic production.

As I test and develop glaze surfaces, I’m interested in the color response from different material combinations in the glaze mix, crystal formation, alterations in firing atmosphere, glaze sheen, and post-firing techniques that can transform a glaze into a better version of the original. My ceramic work changes often and sometimes dramatically with every "breakthrough" in my glaze research.

Bio

Brian Jensen holds an MFA in Ceramics from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania (Edinboro, PA) and a BS in Ceramics/ Secondary Education from Southern Utah University (Cedar City, UT). His ceramic work has been featured in over 130 exhibitions in 24 different states and in Korea and Denmark and can be found in collections worldwide.