Lamia Larkin: Please tell us more about yourself, your background, education and what you do as an artist.

Jon Ginnaty: My name is Jonathan Thomas Ginnaty and I am an artist, educator and a life-time student of Art. I make a wide variety of artwork, from life-scaled ceramic installations to functional pottery, paintings/drawing/prints to photography. My primary focus, however, has been my ceramic installations.

I was born in Humana Hospital in Huntington Beach in 1976, a Libra. I grew up in the center house of a cul-de-sac in the Moffett track, in HB.  Being a latch-key kid from the third grade forward gave me the gift of freedom. The ability to explore all that Huntington Beach has to offer adolescence.

After high school, I walked on to California State University, Fullerton’s men’s soccer team. My first semester at Fullerton, I walked by the ceramics studio everyday on my way to a health class. I had always wanted to take ceramics in high school but my father, an accountant, made me take math electives. So the next semester I took ceramics and found Art.

Fullerton exposed me to a wide range of mediums but nothing spoke to me like ceramics. The summer before my senior year, my professor caught me breaking into the ceramics studio. He was not mad; he gave me a key and a job as Fullerton’s ceramic lab technician.  After I earned my BFA in ceramics in 2001, I received a teaching assistantship to Bowling Green State University, Ohio.  I continued my education with a concentration on ceramic sculpture, and earned an MFA in ceramics in 2003. Then I returned home to Huntington Beach.

I got my first ceramics teaching position at Chaffey College, in Rancho Cucamonga, in 2004. In 2005, I became Saddleback College’s senior fine arts lab technician. In 2008, I started teaching at Chapman University. In the spring of 2009 I was named the grand prize winner of the OC Art Grant. Currently, I am a teacher and lab tech at Saddleback and I will be teaching a course at Chapman in the spring 2010.

LL: Do you consider yourself an artist? If so what do you think classifies you as an artist?

JG: The terms “Art” and “Artist” are funny words because they are so subjective. What is art to me may not be to you.  So if I say I am an artist, you may disagree and you may be right. I prefer to call myself an “object maker”. But yes, I’m an artist.

LL: Where do you get your daily inspiration from?

JG: My inspiration mostly comes from my daily life.  I am motivated by simple yet meaningful interactions with family members, friends, co-workers, and the world around me. These interactions are what I consider Art. The way we move through space defines who we are and allows us all to be unique and human.

LL: Your portfolio seems to contain a variety of mediums; painting, pottery..is there a medium that you prefer out of all the others? If so why?

JG: I would have to say clay, but all the mediums are an integral part of my creative process. I like to equate my use of mediums to writing styles; pottery is like a haiku, conforming to functional systems or structure.  Paintings are like sonnets or poems, free form and uninhibited. And then there are novels, very lengthy, in-depth and detailed explorations of a subject matter that are analogous, in my case, to life-scaled ceramic installations. All are unique in there ability to express different types of thought and all impact the viewer in their own unique ways.

LL: Any artists in particular that inspire your work, or that you look up to?

JG: Well, I have been blessed with amazing mentors/artists over the years; Vincent Suez, Robby Wood, John Balistreri, Steven Roberts, and Richard White to name a few.

Artists that have impacted my life and artistic beliefs; Peter Voulkos, Jun Kaneko, Goro Suzuki, Sir Anthony Caro, David Nash, Anthony Gormley, Tony Cragg, Jean Michelle Basquiat, Hans Hoffman, Jackson Pollock, Nancy Rubins, Judy Pfaff, Lee Bontecou, Anish Kapoor, Jeff Koons, and many more!

LL: Who are your target audience?

JG: Humans, and maybe some dogs and cats.  No, really, I hope to communicate on some level with all who view my work.

LL: How long does it take to create one of your pieces?

JG: Depends on the scale of the work, for instance the piece in the ARTery gallery, “All I need is my flip-flops, a hammock and a blender for my margarita” took me three months. Some of my paintings only take a day or two. The longest I have ever worked on a piece is one I am about to show called, “The American Dream in Terra Cotta”. I have been working on this for the past five years.

LL: How would you describe your art to people?

JG: I make life-sized ceramic installations that recreate everyday objects, and I arrange them so that they visually communicate familiar environments. Producing these familiar settings is a way for me to investigate my own life, and create a dialogue about universality and content in the everyday.

LL: How different is the Orange County Art Scene compared to the rest of the world?

JG: I think it is just in its infancy. Our culture is still very young in comparison to others.  We are in the midst of carving out our own cultural identity.

LL: Has the OC/ California lifestyle influenced your artwork?

JG: Yes, in more ways than I could possibly describe. But in this piece, “All I Need is my flip-flops, a hammock and a blender for my margarita”, I think the influence is apparent in the content, and candor, in which it is presented.

LL: How has teaching helped you to grow into a stronger artist? Or has it?

JG: Having my hands in the material everyday and using my creative thought process to help others create, define, and develop their creative thought process definitely helps me solidify my own. Students bring energy, excitement, and purity to art and what art can be. In other words, Yes! I am always amazed at how much my students teach me.

LL: Do you feel art education is important? Or can art never be taught?

JG: I definitely feel that education is important to life in general. Whether it is imperative to be formally educated in the art world, I’m not sure. There is something to be said about naiveté.  But, there is also something to be said against ignorance. In my experience, having an art education has allowed me more freedom.

LL: Do you see your artwork changing styles or subjects in the future?

JG: Yes and No. My work is an ever evolving product of my life and my research. As life continues, I am sure to have different influences and priorities, none of which I expect to have too much control over.

LL: What does a typical day of work look like for you?

JG: I am up at 6, at Saddleback by 7, tech or teach all day (hours vary from semester to semester), and hopefully surf in the afternoon. I go home for dinner with my girl-friend, and then either relax, go back to the studio, or sleep. Most of my studio time comes on Friday and Saturday nights and Sundays. When the students are away the faculty can play!

LL: What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to an artist that’s just starting out?

JG: Believe in yourself and stay true to your values. Be a sponge for information, techniques and experience. Get involved!

LL: Any art shows coming up that we should know about?

JG: Yes, please come out to my first solo-exhibition!

“The American Dream in Terra Cotta”

February 6th – April 11th, 2010

The Project room at CSUF’s Grand Central Fine Arts Center,

125 N. Broadway Santa Ana, CA 92701.

Opening receptions Saturday Feb 6th and March 6th 2010, From 6-10pm

Santa Ana Art-Walk

LL: Could you tell us a little bit about your work in the Explorations, OC : An Art Scene Subjectively at The ARTery.

JG: When I was approached, my first question was about the how much space could I have to play with. Once that was decided, I started thinking about what I needed to see. I think right now everyone including myself is a bit stressed-out; we are living in one of the most difficult times I have ever seen or remember. Money, war, government, globalization, are all waning heavy on our minds and it seems that everyone I know has been impacted by the recent events that are changing and challenging the world as we know it. This piece, “All I need is my flip-flops, a hammock and a blender for my margarita” is a metaphor I use when I am stressed out, feed up, and in need of relaxation and relief from the pressures of life. It is an ideal place where there are no worries and all you can do is relax and enjoy the moment. I think that this is a place that we all want to be in right now. I daydream about it like it was yesterday. A place so invitingly familiar, however the reality of the moment, simply will not allow it.

LL: Finally, where can we see your work?

JG: I wish I could say I had gallery representation but… I don’t. I do show regularly at Grand Central Fine Arts Center in Santa Ana. You can view my entire portfolio on my website, www.jonginnaty.com or you can contact me on facebook under Jon Ginnaty.