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Seneca artist Josh Lynch operates in the tradition of a rare class of craftsmen who take a great deal of pride in producing visually intriguing functional pottery — work that isn’t standard issue Pottery Barn fare and looks exciting as it stands the ages.
Look no further than Target for an answer to why his ilk are rare. The vibrant, plastic wares lining America’s big box shelves are nowhere in the league of Lynch’s work.
Lynch’s ceramics possess an undeniable elegance in physical form and the ornamentation is minimal and stark, bringing to mind in some cases not the work of a standard potter but an adept graphic designer.
“It’s a business decision to do something that other people don’t, but it fulfills that artistic desire to make something that, while it’s not original, it’s insightful — maybe you could call it progressive or non-traditional,” Lynch explained.
While the austere physical forms are not-so-traditional, the spirit of Lynch’s work owes plenty to past craftsmen. In his own words, what he does “has been done twice.”
But it’s the same concept as a rock band like The White Stripes, who took the blues and worked it in their own original, modern fashion.
Recent work by Lynch features the white ceramic sliced into small pieces by red streaks, appearing almost as if the piece was smashed against the ground and fragmented beautifully. In other pieces the red branches through the vase like the veins and capillaries of a living object.
“I like the high contrast,” Lynch explained of his use of a severe red against white. “I also use other colors, but red is my favorite because it really highlights the form.”
The finish is slick, enhancing to the distinctive effect. Here Lynch proceeds in an unusual fashion. A two-glaze finish provides his work with a temper uncommon to, for example, planters.
“That’s the glaze that I use that not many people use,” he said. “It gives it a real sense of drama and high contrast. I like the surface tension of that white glaze and it pulls and crackles. It’s this natural process a lot like mud drying, to me it brings it back to its root.”
Lynch adds the red is selected because it compliments the form of his work that edges toward sculptural.
Beyond just the ceramic work, Lynch also grows carnivorous plants. In the backyard of his Seneca home is a bog he says looks like it’s the product of aliens toiling.
Having achieved enough success to work full-time on his plants and ceramics, Lynch is free to travel regionally where he is cultivating a unique reputation. The next month will take him throughout the Carolinas, but locally his work can be found at the Head-Lee Nursery and Shades of Shiloh.
Lynch’s carniverous plants aren’t necessarily sold with planters, but they can be bought together or special ordered, and given the personalities, they complement one another nicely.
“I sell plants and planters separately, but often people want something that looks good together,” he explained. “The veins of the plants and pitchers actually match and I do colors that match the plants.”
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