Whanganui ceramic artist John Wells unveils his first solo exhibition at Gallery 85

John Wells with his works at Gallery 85. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui ceramic artist John Wells is an electrician by trade and, despite his job taking up a lot of his time, his passion for art has remained undimmed for the past two decades.

His first solo exhibition is now showing at Gallery 85, and Wells said it's a chance to finally showcase what he's been creating at his home studio in central Whanganui.

"It was just after lockdown, and my eldest son said 'Dad, you've got to get rid of some of this pottery s**t, we're sick of it'," Wells said.

"I figured if I have a show, it might start to move this accumulation of about 10 or 15 years worth of work. It's got to the point where I've pretty much run out of room."

Wells said his journey in ceramics began "a long time ago", when he gained a craft design certificate and then spent a further two years in Nelson completing a diploma in ceramics.

"After that I went to work in Australia and Papua New Guinea in industrial electrical. I just needed to get out of that, so I came back and did a ceramics course with George Kojis at Whanganui Polytech.

"George has been a really great mentor to me, as has Wi Taepa, who was the artist in residence here [Gallery 85] during lockdown."

The work on display is a mixture of the industrial designs he uses as part of his job as an electrician, and items from his "domestic duties as a solo parent", Wells said.

"The third component is a discussion about vessels, and about the tradition of pottery in this country. We have a beautiful tradition of ceramics in this country, right from the early days.

"One example of that is early settlers getting a log and wrapping it with clay. They'd throw it in a fire and when the log had burned away they'd be left with a casing that could be used to drain swamps. Amazing, eh?"

All his work was fired using either an electric kiln or a pit that he's built in his garden, Wells said.

"Indigenous people used pit firing a lot, and it's really low tech. You coat your pieces in terra sigillata, which is a really fine paste that ancients used to waterproof their vessels.

"From there you wrap them in manuka and bay leaves and mount them all in the ash. Then you cover them in sawdust and sheep s**t and light a big fire on top. When it's really sparked up you put a lid on the pit. It takes a couple of days, and it's a lovely, gentle process."

Wells said, until now, he had been "singing songs in the shower" when it came to his work, with no one there to examine what he'd come up with.

"I told myself I wouldn't be disappointed if I didn't sell anything, because this whole exercise is about starting the process and getting my stuff out there.

"This is my passion, and it's kept me going through the hard times, that's for sure."

'Ceramics' is showing at Gallery 85, 85 Glasgow St.