Jean Girel

Two salamanders emerge from frothy patches of yellow glaze on this brown lidded jar.

The great diversity and originality of Girel’s work is the result of his wholly unique approach. His techniques are not found in any ceramics textbook, but in the laboratory of his mind. His materials are not procured from the usual suppliers; the clay and minerals come from the hills around his home and are excavated in his travels. His art is of the earth, quite literally. He observes natural phenomena and attempts to replicate in his kiln the “secret metamorphoses of the planet.” And he succeeds in the way that all great artists do: by illuminating the unknown and making the familiar newly compelling.