(b. 1972)
Innocent Bystander 2000
Glazed earthenware
565mm x 170mm
Here 2008
Glazed earthenware (wall rabbits x 3)
80mm x 150mm x 80mm
John Roy is a prominent New Zealand ceramic artist based in Tauranga. He completed a BFA (Ceramics) in 1997 at Whanganui Polytechnic. He has also won multiple awards, including the Premier Award at the New Zealand Society of Potters Exhibition in 2004. John's work is held in a number of public collections including the Auckland War Memorial Museum, Tauranga Art Gallery, Waikato Museum and Art Gallery, the James Wallace Arts Trust collection and the Sarjeant Gallery in Wanganui. In 2012, John was an artist in residence at Tylee Cottage, Whanganui.
Uncle Sam has been used as a vehicle to explore ideas as he provides an easy entry for the viewer to think about the work. Is he a peacemaker or a troublemaker? Interpretations depend upon the viewer and how they interpret the work from their knowledge of historical or even contemporary events. The use of form and imagery within the work is designed to engage the viewer and provoke thought.
In 2008, Tauranga Art Gallery hosted Here: John Roy, a plague of small rabbits on the ground floor of the gallery. Much of Roy’s work revolves around iconic forms that bring with them a preconceived meaning, but that allow him to introduce his own ideas and thoughts that challenge other people’s perception of the object in a subtle way. Roy’s use of pastel colours for the rabbits adds to the allusion. Even the white rabbits hide a subtle tinge of green, much like mould growing on cement. Fifteen of the rabbits are held in the Wallace Arts Trust Collection, Auckland.
You can learn more about by following him on Instagram @johnroyart
Innocent Bystander purchased from private collector
Here purchased from the artist