“
CV
Clay can be like plastic mud,
or leatherPOTS
Jonathan Cross (38)
Born in: Dallas, Texas, USA
Married to: Christine Cross
Children: 4
Education: MFA Ceramics, Arizona State
University
Profession: Artist
Into bonsai for: 10 Yearsremoval of carbon, then free water, then
sulphur, then chemical water, then the
alteration of quartz structures. At higher
temperatures the clay becomes molten
and open to atmospheric conditions in
the kiln. I fire with wood so the wood
ashes begin to fuse with the surface of
the clay. After the firing as the kiln cools
many of these changes crystalize and
harden into a new material, stone like,
and able to stand up to passing millennia
Your work has a very strong
sculptural shape, how does
bonsai fit in?
I love classic bonsai containers, mostly
the unglazed undecorated minimal
forms, like tokoname; as well as the stone
slabs transformed into containers. I have
always felt, however, bonsai containers
could be more modern. Even though we
appreciate and honour traditions it is
important to push against conventions
to develop new ways of experiencing and
practising life. Working with Ryan Neil
has allowed me to pursue those ideas in
my bonsai forms because he, too, pushes
against those norms. With regard to the
strong sculptural quality of my bonsai
containers, it is only natural because my
main practice is as a sculptor and most of
my sculptures are made in clay.
Bonsai Focus 71