The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 53 No 2 July 2014

Focus: Emerging
Of Peace and
Pottery
Caitlin Eyre introduces Daniel Ga rretson
Daniel Garretson is an emerging ceramic artist.
Born in Sydney and raised in the United States, he
returned to Australia in 2003 to undertake a Bachelor
of Arts majoring in philosophy at the University of
Wollongong. Gradually becoming frustrated with
the teachings of Western philosophy, Daniel instead
focused his attentions on the questions and answers
provided by Eastern ph ilosophies. After reading
Soetsu Yanagi's The Unknown Craftsman , a Zen
Buddhist perspedive on arts and crafts, Daniel
dropped out of university briefly to travel and visit
the studios of Australian potters. Upon his return and
the completion of his degree, he decided to pursue
a career in pottery and left for the United States
in 2006 to begin a three-year apprenticeship with respeded American potter Mark Shapiro. In 2010,
Daniel undertook a year-long residency at the Red Lodge Clay Centre in Montana where he worked to
develop and nurture his own style and artistic practice. Last year he completed a Master of Fine Arts
at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, one of the world's most prestigious
ceramics schools.
Pottery brought Daniel peace from his philosophical dissatisfactions by providing him with a different
way of perceiving and approaching the world around him. Even now, Daniel says he greatly enjoys
the way the making process allows him to generate questions in the studio and actively work towards
satisfactory solutions; it also ads as a kind of meditative state for him. Outside the studio, Daniel's mind
is busy with thought: dreaming, sketching in his notebook and thinking about the physical nature of his
work. By contrast, the studio is a calm place where Daniel quietens his thoughts and allows the haptic
knowledge he has gained through his pradice take over. "Approaching the clay with a loose idea,
spontaneity is my friend," he says. "I enjoy a pot revealing itself to me rather than imposing my ideas on
the materials." Daniel sees overly concentrated efforts to produce objects of great beauty, importance
and usefulness as being counterintuitive to the making processes, preferring instead to approach the
creation of works with greater philosophical depth. "Concepts, techniques, and even the objeds
themselves are secondary to the experiences they afford," Daniel says. " It is the experience of drinking
warm coffee from a handmade mug, or sharing a meal with friends and family using sturdy, wheelthrown
plates that invigorates my work."
28 THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CE RAMICS JULY 2014