Janine Sopp

"I view both life and art as layers of texture and color."

Ceramic artist Janine Sopp creates unique pieces in her Brooklyn studio. She spent the first seven years of her artistic career designing clothing and textiles. With this rich and varied experience, she left the fashion industry and traveled across Europe and Morocco, where she uncovered her deeper artistic desire of molding clay. She favors clay because it is a responsive medium that indulges her passion for texture and color. Her formative years designing textiles has quite naturally transferred to her works in clay.

Sopp works in a variety of techniques, with most pieces beginning as slabs. Once she rolls out each slab, she begins a dialogue with the material. The clay offers her a way to connect and communicate. Textures and patterns tell a story and carry the artist on a journey of discovery. Once the clay has dried, Sopp paints on layers of color to reveal a dance between shapes and images. Then, a dark pigment wash and satin finish complete the journey, giving dimension to each element and inviting the viewer to follow along.

Pieces that are thrown on the wheel are then altered by hand, pushing the limits of the form. The artist often enhances the tactile nature of her pieces with embedded bits of glass. Juxtaposing raw clay and translucent glass adds depth, contrast, and color to these explorative forms. These themes, which reflect Sopp's inner aesthetic sensibilities and the notion of time and space, remain steadfast even as her work continues to evolve and change.