Spotlight: Nick Joerling shifts gears Techno File - Ceramic Arts Daily

Left: vessel, 15 in. (38 cm) in
height, stoneware with slips,
wood fired, 2009.
Right and below: Ribcage
(assembled and disassembled),
17 in. (43 cm) in width, stoneware
with slips, wood fired, 2009.
Photos: Tim Barnwell.
My conversations with Eric Knoche began with a fairly straightforward
intention: I wanted to understand how his multiple bodies of
work informed and enhanced each other. I had a hunch that each
was as a distinct study of formal concepts, and that when viewed
as a whole, these bodies of work would reveal Knoche’s style. To a
certain extent, that seemed true enough, but perhaps more important
was the discovery that the bodies of work act as stepping stones for
both the his creative process and the viewer’s unique experience.
With hints of influence from the Japanese Bizen tradition,
Scandinavian design, and adobe architecture, Knoche currently
uses sparse but natural ash glazes across gritty, natural
surfaces to make work ranging in scale from hand-held
to human-sized. The forms are loosely geometric and are
often exhibited in multiples, inviting the viewer to touch,
arrange, or play with the pieces. Since he makes vessels,
platters, sculptures, large works and installations, I asked
him if it was accurate to say he produces five bodies of
work. “It would be more accurate to generate a mind map
with thicker or thinner lines showing the connections
between various series,” Knoche said. “To me, it is really
one body of work.”
Interestingly enough, it was this connection that mattered
more than distinguishing the work into separate bodies.
From the outset, Knoche has been a process-oriented
artist. In 2004 and 2005, he apprenticed with New York ceramicist
Jeff Shapiro. In 2008, he spent half a year in Japan through the
Asian Cultural Council apprenticing with Isezaki Jun, a Living
National Treasure. “Initially, I was hesitant to subordinate my
own creative drives to someone else,” said Knoche. “But I took
stock . . . and I realized that it would be really helpful to see how
everything relates. I wanted to learn how the business side and
the artistic side interact, how studio life and home life connect,
how a professional artist spends their day, minute to minute.” For
Knoche, apprenticing was more about how to live like an artist,
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