ARTFAIRPH/TALKS

All events follow Philippine time zone (GMT+8)

Jon and Tessy Pettyjohn are considered pioneers of contemporary Philippine ceramics, known for their use of indigenous natural materials in their work. Max Balatbat, whose practice is rooted in architectural abstraction, creates works that draw from his immediate surroundings. In this session, the Pettyjohns and Balatbat discuss how memory has shaped their respective creative practices. Personal experiences, everyday environments, and familiar materials carry traces of the past that resurface in their work. Reflecting on their processes and influences, the session explores how memory is embedded in artistic practice.

---

About the Speaker/s

ABOUT THE ARTISTS


Jon Pettyjohn

Jon Pettyjohn (b.1950, Okinawa, Japan), together with wife Tessy, is considered one of the pioneers of contemporary Philippine ceramics. For the past 38 years he has worked passionately in the realm of high fire Asian style ceramics. Although mostly functional he also sometimes explores the boundaries between the utilitarian and the sculptural, which he feels strongly, are of equal importance. The exploration for and use indigenous natural materials like clay, stones and ashes for ceramics are one of his major focus. Since 2000 he has concentrated on woodfiring using Anagamas (cave kilns) known for their rich natural glaze affects.

From a handful of contemporary potters in the 1970’s the ceramic scene has grown exponentially in part from the Pettyjohn’s influence on a new generation of clay artists many of whom have been their apprentices or students.

Tessy Pettyjohn

Tessy Pettyjohn is a renowned pioneer of Philippine pottery, clay art, and sculpture. Starting her craft in the late 1970s, she has had many shows both here and abroad in her long career. Although she has retired from teaching, she now concentrates on doing her own work for exhibits at her Laguna workshop studio. She continues to explore the use of indigenous Philippine clays, pigments, and minerals for making high fire ceramics and glazes.

Tessy and her husband Jon are at the forefront of ceramic arts in the Philippines. They have developed over many years, masterpieces, which focus heavily on the use of uniquely Filipino materials.


Max Balatbat

Maximino Balatbat was born in 1978 in Caloocan City. Being a son to an architect explains his natural affinity to the world of art which adamantly has not been hidden at all. His early creative formation and works took inspiration from the “International Cabaret”, a brothel in Caloocan’s red light district where he spent an unusual younger years in the company of prostitutes and rug rats like him.

Earlier, he studied Architecture at the Far Eastern University in Manila 1995 but in 1997, after circumspecting the creative path, he decided to take Fine Arts instead at the University of the East Caloocan. In 2002, he completed his degree in Fine Arts with a major in Advertising and was awarded as one of UE’s Exemplary Performance in Visual Arts. Balatbat is also from his own unique generation of artists with piercing grit and passion. Before becoming a fulltime painter, he landed a string of jobs in graphic designs where his creative skills were put into good use.

Maxbal gave pride to the country in 2009 when he won the Il Lorenzo Magnifico Award – (Painting category) Silver Medal in the Florence Biennale in Italy. Among the other feathers in his cap are 2009 ECCA Grand Prize in the Abstract Category and also the 2009 GSIS Art Competition’s grand prize in the Non-Representational Category.

In 2010, his work was among the Juror Choice Award in Philip Morris Philippine Art Awards, the same winning piece is now part of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ collection. Also in the later part of 2010, he participated in the Malaysia Art Expo and the Philippine Arttrek in Singapore his works are also exhibited at Korea, Hong Kong, Beijing, Thailand, Italy, London, Germany, Austria, Netherlands.