Jesse Birch, Alaria Teabowl

Jesse Birch
Alaria Teabowl, 2024
Ash glazed wood-fired stoneware
4.5 x 4.5 x 3.75 inches

Alaria Tea Bowl was thrown in my Nanaimo studio and wood-fired with Nanaimo's Tozan Society. The glaze is based on a recipe by British potter Katherine Pleydell-Bouverie (1895-1985). One of the key ingredients is ash I collected from my friends' fireplaces. The pot is named after a  type of seaweed that is common to the Salish Sea. 

Jesse Birch is Curator of Nanaimo Art Gallery (2014-present). He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts (Photography) from Emily Carr University (2001), and a Masters of Arts degree in Art History (Critical and Curatorial Studies) from the University of British Columbia (2008). In 2007, he was a curatorial fellow at de Appel Arts Centre in Amsterdam. Birch was Co-Director/Curator of Access Gallery in Vancouver from 2008 to 2010 and Exhibitions Curator at Western Front from 2012-2014. He has also served on the Board of the Or Gallery (Vancouver) and was active with the Pacific Association of Artist Run Centres. Birch has published in numerous exhibition catalogues and art magazines including C Magazine, Yishu, and fillip, and he received the Art Writing Award from Ontario Association of Art Galleries for his essay on artist Kika Thorne for the Art Gallery of Windsor. From 2009-2013 Birch taught at Emily Carr University in the Critical and Cultural Studies faculty. As an artist he has exhibited across Canada, in Australia, South Korea, and Japan. Jesse is a potter and is an active member of the Tozan Cultural Society, which stewards a four chamber wood fired noborigama kiln, just south of Nanaimo, BC.