John Balistreri works big.
His rough-hewed ceramic vessels are as tall as him.
His newest work towers over those, the elegant, coiled clay rising 12 feet or more in the air.
The potter's new ceramic artwork is made possible by his collaboration with master artist Jun Kaneko.
That collaboration has required the Bowling Green State University professor to shift his base of operations from campus to a massive facility in Omaha, that Kaneko is developing both as a studio and as the center for wide-ranging study and projects linking art, science and philosophy.
"Jun's my hero," Balistreri said. "He's beyond ceramics."
Balistreri went to Omaha, Neb., in the summer of 2011, to supervise the completion of the sprawling 100,000-square-foot former industrial site. Balistreri expected that would be a year-long research leave.
His rough-hewed ceramic vessels are as tall as him.
His newest work towers over those, the elegant, coiled clay rising 12 feet or more in the air.
The potter's new ceramic artwork is made possible by his collaboration with master artist Jun Kaneko.
That collaboration has required the Bowling Green State University professor to shift his base of operations from campus to a massive facility in Omaha, that Kaneko is developing both as a studio and as the center for wide-ranging study and projects linking art, science and philosophy.
"Jun's my hero," Balistreri said. "He's beyond ceramics."
Balistreri went to Omaha, Neb., in the summer of 2011, to supervise the completion of the sprawling 100,000-square-foot former industrial site. Balistreri expected that would be a year-long research leave.