Juan Ortí García

Torrent, Valencia, Spain

Crisis.

The fear of the unknown, the fear of losing your way of life, the fear of losing family members, being locked up at home without knowing when to leave, the vertigo of feeling that you have all the time in the world and not knowing how you will use it.

At first I felt fear and anguish because I have friends in China and they told me what was happening to them. I knew that the lockdown was going to last much longer than the authorities said. After two weeks of confusion I started working in the studio. I am lucky to have it in my house; if not, I would have gone crazy. At first I started to organize and clean up everything. I had the feeling that all of Time was for me and I started doing things that I always wanted to do. The days passed and in the end I began to produce work. I needed to escape from reality and as always the clay and the wheel came to help me. I started to throw the simplest shapes possible but with maximum expression.

The ring shape was the first. I had my doubts: too simple, soul-less, too mechanical. But, little by little, the need to create overcame my doubts. I have always needed time to accept my works, to reflect and decide whether I like them or not. After a while, I'm still not sure (actually, I never am) that they are good works. But they are the fruit of the lockdown, the reflection of what I felt and lived.

This series of works is formed by rings, tubes and spheres of perfect dimensions. Forms with which we live daily and do not realize. It was the first series of works I did in smoky black. I still don’t have all the answers, I don’t know why. Time will tell.

Life is a circle, a wheel, a ring…

BIO: JUAN ORTI

Juan Ortí was born in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain, in 1974, and later moved with his family to Valencia, where he has his residence and workshop. He grew up in an artistic environment: his parents are teachers and artists. In 1997, he began studying industrial design at the School of Arts and Crafts in Valencia, a specialty he later abandoned for ceramics after meeting his friend and professor Enric Mestre there. Later, he did a final degree project at the University of Lapland in Finland. Since then he has participated in numerous exhibitions and symposia, mainly in Europe but also in various countries in Asia and South America where his works are in permanent collections.

He has been a member of the IAC since 2013, and has won several awards and honorable mentions at international competitions such as the Biennial of Manises, the International Ceramic Competition of L’Alcora, and the Biennial Angelina Alós in Spain. Juan also offers private classes in throwing on the potter’s wheel and is frequently invited to teach workshops on throwing by schools and universities in various countries. He is currently represented by Modern Shapes Gallery in Antwerp, Belgium, and Espai Nivi Collblanc gallery in Castellón, Spain.

SOCIAL MEDIA:

juanorti@yahoo.es

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@juan_orti_

https://www.facebook.com/juan.orti.7

rate of affection

Juan Orti nominates Sofía Beça