“I am keenly interested in the element of time. it seems to me much of what we have today is volatile – like a firecracker: lovely to see, very impressive, loud – and gone. While that’s fine as entertainment, our culture is more than that. I choose to make forms that will be as strong tomorrow as they are today.”
Vancouver-born Harlan House began his career as a potter during his studies at the Albert College of Art, where he graduated with a Diploma in Fine Art in 1969. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, he was first known for his ‘Iris’ vases, a combination of modeling, applique, carving and colour techniques. House went on to explore historical approaches to pottery which eventually led him to discover the beautiful objects created by Chinese potters of the tenth through thirteenth centuries.
Harlan House has gone onto become one of Canada’s outstanding potters, specializing in porcelain fired with glazes. His styles keep changing as he constantly explores subjects, recipes and techniques. His pieces have grown in size and speak to society’s issues like globalization and mass production with style and humor. His reputation has taken him across Canada, to Europe, Japan, China South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States and his work is in numerous public and private collections.
