Rising Stars: Meet Jonathan Kaplan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonathan Kaplan.

Hi Jonathan, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was an under-achiever in public high school. My parents gave me some choices, one of which was a coeducation Quaker boarding school. To graduate, I needed an art course, and there was a ceramics facility. I ended up not pursuing a possible career in medicine, studied architecture and eventually went to art school and received my BFA in ceramics from Rhode Island School of Design and then earned my MFA, also in ceramics, from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. After grad school, I moved outside of Philadelphia. I began my first studio practice that continued for many years until I burned out and moved to Telluride, Colorado, where I excelled at being a ski bum. Then moving to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where I continued to enjoy that profession, I realized that you must do what you love. I started my second studio practice that evolved into a ceramics factory with machinery and employees. and started the ceramics program at Colorado Mountain College. After 16 years, I closed the factory and moved to Denver and through the serendipitous confluence of events, I purchased an old warehouse property in the River North Arts District (RiNo). I renovated the property into a live/workspace, my third studio practice, and established Plinth Gallery in 2007. I have been extremely lucky and fortunate to continue my passion as a potter, ceramic designer, educator, artist, and the author for almost 5o years. Plinth Gallery is a pristine exhibition venue with a carefully curated collection of contemporary ceramics, and the gallery represents approximately 40 ceramic artists from around the world.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Being an artist has its challenges. I have been fortunate to seem to be at the right place at the right time. I have been lucky to be provided with many opportunities to further my career with hard work, persistence, perseverance, and patience. What has motivated me for so many years is a passion for making objects, encouraging and mentoring others, and finding my own voice as a ceramic artist.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I make a variety of ceramic objects that celebrate both form and surface. Any constraint does not bound me in method or material, nor am I restricted by any strict adherence to the utility of using many ways to create work: I have a deep vocabulary of tool and technique that is not framed by preconception or historical imperative. Major influences upon my work are architecture and geometry. The majority of my ceramics can be viewed as vessel specific and all deal with ideas associated with containment. Strict utility or function may only be a reference derived from an association with a specific shape or form. I also integrate industrial parts or machined components that inform a visual dialog between handmade work and manufactured ideas. I have made a diverse body of work for most of my career, driven to make objects that are both highly designed and impeccably crafted. I look in awe at the symmetries of culture and am humbled by what remains as historical evidence in clay. With an acknowledgment of that deep history of ceramics, I endeavor to make choices in my work that will continue to engage and interest me and hopefully others. I am honored to be a part of this continuum and constantly reinvent my work by challenging myself. My studio practice has evolved over many years, and it is important to always include others with me on this journey.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
My father had a woodworking shop in the basement. Growing up, I spent a great deal of time there and did not lose any fingers in the table saw or drill press. I think that this was where I understood the value of tools and materials and made things with your hands.

Contact Info:

• Address: Plinth Gallery 3520 Brighton Blvd Denver CO 80216
• Email: jonathan@plinthgallery.com
• Website: plinthgallery.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plinthgallery/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Plinth-Gallery-112315602464

Image Credits
all photos by Jonathan Kaplan with the exception of: the wall with multicolored hemispheres photo by Norman Dillon birds and fishes photo by John Bonath