JAE MINARD

I work with ceramics and photography. Both these mediums record moments in time. Photography captures light. Clay records motion. These processes imprint matter with memory and meaning.

As a sculptor, I explore the flow of time and the changes we and everything we touch move through as we grow. My practice is deeply influenced by Zen meditation, and I was first introduced to raku firing at Zen Mountain Monastery. When shaping an empty vessel, no matter how I’m feeling when I begin, I let go and give myself fully to the process. It’s one of the few times I feel embodied in the present moment, completely free of anxiety or uncertainty. I find this practice deeply healing and love teaching others how to work with clay. This material can become anything. An empty bowl can hold everything and nothing at the same time.

In my work, I use alternative firing techniques, such as raku and reduction—firing with sawdust or propane—which require embracing unpredictability and imperfection. I create objects that appear frozen in a state of transformation—eggs and cocoons in the process of birthing new life, or volcanic bowls charred by flames and fractured by thermal shock. These pieces have a life of their own, shaped as much by the process as by my intention.

Once fired, ceramic is extremely resilient and lasts for thousands of years. It’s humbling to work with a material that’s the only remnant of some of our most ancient ancestors, and to create objects that may outlast my own life or our civilization as we know it.

Photography complements this practice, capturing landscapes and people as markers of time. My fascination with transformation drives both—whether chasing natural light or throwing clay in a fire and hoping it survives in one piece. Each medium is a way of honoring the beauty of impermanence.

I invite friends and family to use the objects or incorporate them into personal rituals—drinking tea or creating an altar. These interactions breathe new life into the pieces, reinforcing their connection to the everyday and the sacred.

When I create, I aim to let go of expectations and allow the volition of the material and the spontaneity of the moment to guide me. It is a practice of surrender and flow.

I also sculpt animals for fun.