Earlier Ceramics Johnny Rolf

Early Ceramics

Johnny Rolf

"Not waving but drowning" 1995, w. 66 cm. (Coll. Gemeentemuseum, the Hague)

The poem "Not waving but drowning" by the English poet Stevie Smith
affects me every time I read it.

"Not waving but drowning " detail.

"Firmament" 1993, h. 49.5 cm. (Artist coll.)

Looking at the starry sky, being admitted to the universe,
gives me the feeling of space I long for.


"African Woman" 1992, h. 56 cm. (Coll. Gemeentemuseum, the Hague)
"Mother and Child" could be another name for this piece. The reverse shows her house, her world.

"Tiger" 1992, h. 18.5 cm, (Priv. coll.)

I was forming clay when I heard on the BBC how seriously the survival of tigers in India was threatened.
Whilst on my way to make a piece this small tiger head came out of my hands.


"Monument" 1990, W. 43.5.cm, (Coll. Hetjens Museum, Düsseldorf, Germany)

Mask "Odysseus", 1989; h. 25.5 cm.
(Coll. Grassimuseum, Leipzig, G.)

Mask "Zebu Ox" 1987, h. 51 cm. (Artist coll.)

In this period I made a series of masks. The form gives a lot of freedom
and the possibility to express thoughts on animals and people. The zebu
ox, a beautiful, hardworking animal, was the inspiration for this mask.

"Ganesha" 1986, h. 40 cm, (Priv.coll.)

During journeys and workperiods in India I discovered how important
Ganesha, the elephant god is. Before each new enterprise one should
call on him. In particular he is the protector of writers.
This Ganesha hangs near our computer whom we have named Ganesh.

Wall Plate "Yüruk" 1986, diam. 53 cm. (Artist coll.)

Box "Mosaic" 1984, H. 19 cm. W. 21 cm. (Coll. Gemeentemuseum, the Hague)

A journey to Turkey brought me a new color palette.
One can vary patterns endlessly. It was exciting to engrave
a continuous pattern over five sides.
The minuscule lid is hardly discernable.

"Kimono" 1984, w. 39.5 cm. (Priv. coll.)

"Hexagonal wall tile" 1984, Ø 41.5 cm, d. 2 cm. (Artist coll.)

"Rectangular wall tile" 1984, W. 38 cm, h. 27.5 cm, d. 2 cm. (Artist coll.)

In 1983 we travelled through Turkey for the second time.
Back home tiled walls from mosques and palaces and beautiful kilims inspired me.

Hexagonal wall tile"Composition",1984; Diam. 42.5 cm, H. 3 cm;
(Coll. Grassimuseum, Leipzig, G.)

"Bowl" 1983, diam. 41 cm, (Priv.coll.)

"Polderland" 1982; H. 47 cm, B. 24.5 cm, D. 8 cm.
(Coll. Gemeentemuseum, the Hague)

"Landscape" 1981, h. 31.5 cm. (Artist coll.)

This is the flat, Frisian country, man-made, wide and
beautiful, especially in winter.

Chess- set, 1981, dimensions board 75 x 75 cm
chess-pieces Ø 4.5 cm
(Artist coll.)

This chess-set is made from porcelain fired in a salt kiln.
I enjoyed making very elaborate pawns.
For me they are the "common men", toys in the game of war,
who most of the time are being depicted in a very simple way.
I wanted to show the diversity, the surroundings of simple pawns/human beings.

Chess-set detail

"House" 1979, saltglaze, h. 26 cm. (Priv.coll.)

Houses have always intrigued me, in reality and in clay.
In them one looks for shelter, in them one finds a home.

"Small Stupa with rat" around 1980. H. 12 cm
saltglazed porcelain. (Artist coll.)

"Rectangular pot", 1978; saltglaze, H. 34.5 cm, B. 23.5 cm, D. 15 cm;
(Coll. Gemeentemuseum, the Hague)

Bench "Morra" 1979, saltglaze, w. 17.5 cm, (Priv.coll.)

What happiness it is to sit in the sun on a bench in front of one's own house.

"Square pot" 1977, saltglaze, h. 28 cm. (Artist coll.)

In 1976 Jan de Rooden and I built a salt kiln in Morra, a small village in Friesland in the north of the Netherlands.
There we worked intensively for seven years.
I really like the saltglaze technique, it registers sharply and faultlessly all that has
been done to the clay.

"Rock torso" 1976, h. 14 cm, w. 35.5 cm, d. 26.5 cm. (Artist coll.)

This piece is a memory of summer weeks spent at Haystack Summer School of Art in Maine, USA.
To pause in between the hard work people took a rest in midday, small naked figures on a mother rock.

"Loving couple" 1976, h. 24,5 cm, w. 21 cm,
(Coll. Hetjens Museum, Düsseldorf, Germany)

"Loving couple" 1976, same piece seen from above


"Longing" 1976, h. 21 cm, w. 18 cm, d. 15 cm. Photographed from two sides. (Artist coll.)

"Chase" 1975, h. 23.4 cm. 69.3 cm. (Artist coll.)

Square Bowl on foot 1974/5. W. 12 cm. (Artist coll.)

"Flowering Torso" 1973, h. 47.5 cm,
(Coll. Hetjens Museum, Düsseldorf, Germany)

For me the tors is the symbol of the human body.
This tors is flowering, moving, still growing...


"Autumn" 1968. h. 21.5 cm, d. 9 cm, (Priv. coll.)
Old couple looking back on their youth.


"Ancestors" 1968, h. 47.5 cm, two sides. (Coll. Gemeentemuseum, the Hague)
In 1966 I made my first sculptures in clay. We all have ancestors, known to us or not. Their existence, too, determines who we are.


"Stêle" 1967, h. 38 cm, two sides (Priv.coll.)
In 1967 I participated in the Second International Ceramic Symposium in Bechyne, Chechoslovakia, a country then still tightly locked in communist chains. I visited Prague and the old Jewish cemetary there, which moved me deeply. Once back in Amsterdam I made a few remembrance stones, stêles, to share the sense of loss.

"Aniara" 1966, 33.6 x 33.6 x 1.8 cm, (Artist coll.).

During our work period at the Gustavsberg Fabriker AB in Gustavsberg, Sweden,
we saw the opera "Aniara" after the poem by Harry Martinson.
It is the dramatic story of a spaceship that lost its way.
I made this tile in the Gustavsberg studio in porcelainous stoneware.

Detail "Aniara"
title, Gustavsberg mark and signature.

"Pot" 1961, h. 21.5 cm. (Artist coll.)