The Human Condition: The Stephen and Pamela Hootkin Collection Sept. 2014 | Page 144

ARTISTS' BIOGRAPHIES

Holcomb, Jan
American; (b. 1945, Washington, DC; lives in Lincoln, RI)
1977 MA (ceramics) California State University, Sacramento, CA
1974 BFA (ceramics/painting) University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
1968 BA (history) University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

The two-time National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship recipient (1979, 1988)

SELECTED REFERENCES:

Jan Holcomb, creates Surrealist-inspired ceramic sculptures that combine dreamy

*Holcomb, Jan. “Jan Holcomb:

landscapes and cartoonish figures to probe the modern conditions of anxiety

Portfolio.” American Craft 42,

and alienation. Drawing from such diverse sources as geologic imagery and the
decalcomania paintings by the German-born artist Max Ernst (1891–1976), Holcomb’s

no. 4 (August/September 1982)
Holcomb, Jan. “Jan Holcomb’s CV.”
Rhode Island School of Design.

textured and uncanny sceneries provide the narrative context for his large-headed

Accessed March 6, 2014.

figures to inhabit. Discussing his work, Holcomb says: “My need for visual expression

http://www.risd.edu/uploadedFiles/

has always revolved around the figure, more specifically, the face.*” Holcomb’s attention

RISD_edu/Academics/Departments/
Ceramics/Faculty/Profiles/Jan%20

to the face and figure stems from his graduate training at California State University,

Holcomb%20resume.pdf

Sacramento, which represented a figurative current parallel to the object-based “Funk”

Porges, Maria F. “Children of an

works that originated from Robert Arneson and others at the University of California, Davis.

Anxious Age.” American Ceramics

Holcomb is currently a Senior Critic in the Ceramics Department of the Rhode

6, no. 4 (Summer 1988): 20–25.

Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island, where he has taught since 1978.
Holcomb’s most recent body of work involves digital collages based on geologic images
and maps.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF JAN HOLCOMB WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION

Sunny Climb

The Voyagers

ALSO INCLUDED IN EXHIBITION

Holcomb, Jan. “Jan Holcomb:

Clark, Garth. American Ceramics:

Portfolio.” American Craft 42,

1876 to the Present. New

Probing

no. 4 (August /September 1982)

York: Abbeville Press, 1987.

Porges, Maria F. “Children of an
Anxious Age.” American Ceramics
6, no. 4 (Summer 1988): 20–25.

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