John C. Williams

John C. Williams - Ohakune

John built his first kiln in 1971 and continued building various kilns in and around the Wellington region. Graduating from the Wellington School of Design in 1974 John then spent the next few years traveling extensively around the world working in various potteries. 

Johns work history includes working for the NZ Film industry as art director, set and props maker and as an architectural designer building numerous houses in and around Auckland and beyond. In 2017 John designed and created a ceramic studio in Ohakune where he works with a wood fired kiln, oil fired salt kiln, electric kiln and various gas fired Hikadashi kilns. 

‘Oribe’ is a Japanese style of pottery John predominantly enjoys working in, it can be characterized by its purposely deformed Avant Garde vessel forms, eccentric paintings with iron pigment and several different glazes. John is also captivated by the Japanese concept of ‘Wabi sabi’ which is acknowledged by three simple realities- nothing is forever, nothing is completed, and nothing is perfect. John mixes all his own glazes, mainly using various ashes and materials collected in the Ruapehu region where he is based.    

Ceramics from Johns kilns are used in everyday life and are collected worldwide.