Jennifer Rochlin

Jennifer Rochlin began her career as a painter before turning to ceramics. Her work reveals a strong influence of her training as a painter, evident in the painterly figurative scenes that adorn her unapologetically misshapen ceramic vessels. The artist intentionally leaves her handprints visible, and also marks her artworks with sgraffito etching or even bite marks. Her work has been acquired by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) and has been exhibited in solo shows primarily in California since 2007.

Rochlin's pots are hand-built using the coil method, and possess a distinctive form that reflects the marks of the artist's hand. Her motifs often respond to the forms of her vessels, weaving a story in three-dimensional space. Rochlin's motifs include lush flora and fauna of California, pop-cultural references, decorative patterns, personal narratives, and more recently, art-historical references such as Brueghel. Her work has been lauded for its ability to seamlessly blend two-dimensional painting with three-dimensional pottery, resulting in sensual and vivid paintings in the round. Rochlin's unique approach to ceramics has contributed to the medium's evolution in contemporary art.

Guided by her hands, drawing from the depths of her being, Rochlin works with clay to create true narrative receptacles, giving as much importance to the form of these works as to the story they express. She engraves, using the technique of Sgraffito, she marks with her prints, bites with her teeth, gestures which come to give rhythm to her work and testify of the spontaneity of the act. What stands out in Rochlin’s work is this strength of intimacy that invites the viewer to feel these moments. Her body of work evokes floating moments, the ardent memory of a love, a starry night in Italy, the landscapes that she cherishes, or an afternoon with her boys, a three-dimensional story that summons her personal memories in a passionate vocabulary. Rochlin's ceramics are characterized by their delicate and intricate forms, which often incorporate intricate patterns and textures, inspired by the natural world, urban environment, pop culture, decorative patterns, art history, and personal memories.

Jennifer Rochlin (b. 1968, Baltimore, Maryland) holds a Master of Fine Art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Colorado. Rochlin’s recent solo and group exhibitions include Art Brussels, Sorry we’re Closed, Brussels (2023); Into the Vortex, The Pit, Los Angeles (2023); Foothills, Sorry we’re Closed, Brussels (2022, solo); P-22, Shrine, New York (2022, solo); Tif Sigfrids Gallery, New York, NY (2022); The Armory, The Pit, New York (2022, solo); Art Antwerp, Sorry We’re Closed, Antwerp (2021); Via Cafe, Tif Sigfrids Gallery, New York (2021); All of a Sudden, Galeria Mascota, Aspen (2021); Bella Foster, Viola Frey and Jennifer Rochlin, The Pit, Los Angeles, (2021); Hot Tropics, La Loma Projects, Los Angeles (2021); California Dreamin’ “It’s a Winter’s Kind of Day,” Maki Gallery, Tokyo (2020, solo); and Jennifer Rochlin, The Pit, Glendale (2020, solo); among others. Rochlin is the recipient of the Individual Artist Grant from the Belle Foundation (2015) and the Durfee Foundation ARC grant (2007). Her work is part of the collection of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Rochlin lives and works in Los Angeles.