Artist and designer John Born founded Humble Matter in 2014 after escaping from the world of advertising. Humble Matter ceramics and sculptures are available across the United States and around the world. They have been featured in print and online in publications including Elle Décor, Elle Décor UK, Milk Decoration, Wallpaper, and Vogue. In 2019, John had the first Humble Matter solo exhibition at the Dobrinka Salzman Gallery in New York.
Not a New York native, but definitely a transplant who’s taken hold, John has lived in Brooklyn since moving to New York in 1993. When he’s not in the studio, John can be found running throughout Brooklyn or relaxing on the beaches of Truro, MA with his family. John has a BFA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
The Studio
Humble Matter is located in one of the last rough-and-tumble corners of Red Hook in Brooklyn, NY.
The Work
At the heart of functional ceramics is the creation of proxies for humans--vessels that reference the original vessel. They become the tools which improve upon or do the work we cannot do: carry water, store food, display items of beauty or value. These are jobs as old as time, and bonds which connect the past to the present; the present to the future; and ultimately, the future back to the past. Humble Matter pieces use a vocabulary of repeated shapes in an attempt to create archetypal forms that feel like an inevitable part of this continuum. They not only serve a purpose as functional pieces, but as talismans that ground us in the magic and importance of everyday objects and rituals in an increasingly disconnected and digitized world.
