Jim Etzkorn makes functional and decorative work about the exploration of form. During a visit to Japan in 1987, Jim was inspired by the cast iron kettles used as part of the traditional tea ceremony. His current work emulates that surface by using a bronze glaze. He further embellishes this treatment with rope impressions similar to Neolithic Japanese pottery, heightening the sensuality of the objects with a visual and tactile texture. Jim's work is thus a synthesis of Oriental antiquity and Western contemporary sensibility. He is also influenced by the English potter Lucy Rie as well as classical forms from the Sung and Ming periods in China.

Over the years, the artist’s work has changed from closed to open forms like bowls and plates. These symmetrical vessels, made on the wheel, are often altered (squared or ovaled).

Jim Etzkorn is a graduate of the Alberta College of Art and Design. He has also participated in the residency programs at the Banff Centre for the Arts and the Archie Bray Foundation. For more than twenty years, Jim has lectured and taught at numerous colleges and art organizations throughout Canada while maintaining a busy and successful studio practice.

His work is represented in public and private collections in Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Britain, Holland, Spain and throughout North America. Other highlights of his career include a commission to create the dinner set for the 2003 G8 Summit in Kananaskis, a merit award at the Taiwan Invitational International Show and having work chosen for numerous juried national and international shows.

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