John Domenico
JohnDomenicoArtist.com
John Domenico
JohnDomenicoArtist.com | @JohnDomenicoArtist | Denver, CO.
Education
Arizona State University | Aug. 2013 – May 2018
Bachelor of Science and Engineering in Materials (BSE) Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics (BFA)
Pennsylvania State University | Aug. 2018 – May 2020 Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics (MFA)
Exhibitions
Solo and two person shows:
2018 Summer Showcase at Balistreri Vineyards, Denver, CO
2020 Well I Guess We’ll Live Through It, Plinth Gallery, Denver, CO
2022 Thesis Exhibition, Harvard University, Boston, MA
This is a two person show including the work of 2020 Penn State MFA Graduate, Andrew Castaneda. It was a reunion and a “thesis” exhibition as a homage to the thesis exhibitions that were canceled at the start of the Covid 19 pandemic in 2020.
Group:
2015 Ceramics East and West, ASU Ceramics Research Center, Tempe, AZ 2018 On the Rocks, Pewabic Gallery, Detroit, MI
2018 Twin Cups, MWSU Clay Guild, St Joseph, MO 2018 Off the Table, MWSU Clay Guild, St Joseph, MO 2018 Growler Fest, Project Art, Pittsburgh, PA
2018 Psyche Showcase, ASU ISTB 4, Tempe, AZ
2018 Moving out of the Basement, BFA Exhibition, ASU Gallery 100, Tempe, AZ 2019 Free Beer, Zoller Gallery, State College, PA
2019 Keystone Clay: West, Baltimore Clay Works, Baltimore, MD
2019 NCECA National Student Juried Exhibition, Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN 2019 Hangover Smoothie, Zoller Gallery, State College, PA
2022 Psyche, Phoenix Airport Museum, Phoenix, AZ 2022 Cup Show, Space Ten Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2022 Clay and Textile Show, Williamsburg Art and Historical Center, Brooklyn, NY
2023 Predators and Prey, Art Gym, Denver, CO
2023 Cup Show 2, Space Ten Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Workshops & Lectures
2021 Wood fire workshop & Lecture, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA
2022 Hand building and Throwing workshop, Harvard University, Boston, MA
2023 Throwing workshop and Lecture, Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design (RMCAD), Denver, CO
2023 Wood fire Workshop and Lecture, University of Colorado Boulder (CU), Boulder, CO
2023 Demonstrator and Lecturer, California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Art (CCACA), Davis, CA
Publications and Interviews
2017 “Magnetic Properties of Chromium-Doped Ni80Fe20 Thin Films.” Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, Devonport, Alex
2018 Psyche Inspired, Catalog of works completed in Psyche Inspired inaugural year
2019 “Influence of substrate temperature on properties of pyrite thin films deposited using a sequential coevaporation technique” Journal of Thin Solid Films, A. Walimbe
2019 “Metal Asteroid Inspires Works of Art,” EOS Science News by AGU
2019 NCECA Exhibitions 2019
2021 Kintsugi: The Poetic Mend, Bonnie Kemske, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
2022 East Side Featured Artist Interview
Awards &Recognitions
2014 2014 Kakahashi Project Representative
2013-2017 New American University Scholar – Deans Award, ASU Scholarship
2014 Kakahashi Project Representative
2017 Psyche Inspired Intern
2018-2020 Graduate Teaching Assistantship, Penn State scholarship and teaching position
2022 East Side Art Institute Featured Artist
Relevant Employment History
La Serra Collective | Founder, Director, President | Feb. 2021 - present
La Serra is a nonprofit started in Denver that focuses on art accessibility.
Balistreri Vineyards | Creative Director and Assistant to Winemaker | May 2020 - Present
Instructor of Ceramics, Pennsylvania State University | Instructor of Ceramics | Jan. 2019 – May 2020
ASU Ceramic Research Center | Curatorial Intern | Aug. 2017 – Jan. 2018
Nathan Newman’s lab ASU | Research Assistant | Jan. 2015 – May 2018
ASU Art Museum | Assistant to Director and Development | Sept. 2014 – May 2015
Upcoming:
March 2024 Workshop at University of Hartford, CT
July- September 2024 Resident at Children’s Museum Denver
Artist Statement
Art is a celebration of what makes us human and an important tool for instilling and contextualizing our sense of value. The exploration of the nuanced and expansive ways art can and does shape our human experience is central to my artistic practice. My exploration of the value of art was fueled by my studies and subsequent degree in Materials Science and Engineering. I found the same passion, inventiveness and humanity that fueled the sciences were also those underlying artistic practice. I bring this curiosity, exploration and interdisciplinary approach to inform all the work in my studio.
My background allows me to manipulate various materials to accomplish surfaces and forms that push the capabilities of traditional mediums. My work is not geared towards overt statements on popular subjects such as social or environmental issues, though those are major concerns of mine. Instead, my approach is geared toward works that have the potential to transform an environment. I see the abstract form as a tool to invoke curiosity and alter the viewer's movement in a space, while the figurative elements create points of connection and narrative. In the environment created by my work, I hope to inspire awe, mindfulness, and a sense of shared empathy—tuning into the central motivation of my artistic practice. I want the work to cultivate space for reflection and introspection, which then has the potential to lead the viewer to explore their their own humanity and value system—perhaps even lead to a shift in that system. This value shift, though subtle and oblique in approach, can be a powerful form of activism.
Outside of my visual art practice, I’m founder of a nonprofit called La Serra Collective. La Serra Collective is rooted in transforming the way we culturally perceive art and is based just outside of Denver, CO. The mission is to promote a new cultural definition, understanding and means of experiencing art.