Ceramics Monthly: Can you share a little about how your collaborative studio practice developed? Was it something you set out to build together, or did it evolve organically?
Jasper Johns and Francisco Salazar: Our collaboration, Studio FraJas (studiofrajas.com), developed organically. We met at school and started living together after we moved to NYC. As we each maintained our own artistic practice, projects were often left around the apartment—one of these was a bisque-fired vase Jasper had made. Undecided how to glaze it, he challenged Francisco to develop a surface design. Trained as a painter, Francisco enjoyed the opportunity to paint on a 3D form, and we both loved the result. So, one vase led to another. Our individual skills match the division in the ceramic process between sculpting a form and painting it with glaze, while our closeness allows us to constantly discuss the work’s direction. We’ve been in a relationship for many years and are natural collaborators. Sketches at breakfast became a way of sharing ideas and clarifying intentions. As Francisco makes studies in colored pencil and watercolor, Jasper refines glaze formulas to achieve just the right effect. The finished pieces prompt new conversations.
CM: Your collaboration isn’t just between two people—it’s between two artists of different creative disciplines. How has that exchange shaped your individual practices and established visual languages?
JJ & FS: Working together has meant learning each other’s visual language. Jasper has become more familiar with color theory, while Francisco has learned to consider the technical challenges of glaze rather than paint. Jasper brings his sensitivity to form, Francisco his approach to pattern. Neither of us could create these pieces alone.
Our collaboration has become our main practice, as it requires most of our time in design and production. We still maintain individual interests, though they often unfold in different directions. Jasper makes figurative sculpture, usually finished with a single glaze that lets the form speak for itself. Francisco writes short stories. Although the stories have little to do with ceramics, revising a text is not so different from refining a pattern or composition. It’s constant reworking. We’ve learned to never dismiss an idea, wherever it comes from. We try to create the conditions for it to develop at its own pace and through the right materials. Photo: Rachel Denise.
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Ceramics Monthly: Can you share a little about how your collaborative studio practice developed? Was it something you set out to build together, or did it evolve organically?
Jasper Johns and Francisco Salazar: Our collaboration, Studio FraJas (studiofrajas.com), developed organically. We met at school and started living together after we moved to NYC. As we each maintained our own artistic practice, projects were often left around the apartment—one of these was a bisque-fired vase Jasper had made. Undecided how to glaze it, he challenged Francisco to develop a surface design. Trained as a painter, Francisco enjoyed the opportunity to paint on a 3D form, and we both loved the result. So, one vase led to another. Our individual skills match the division in the ceramic process between sculpting a form and painting it with glaze, while our closeness allows us to constantly discuss the work’s direction. We’ve been in a relationship for many years and are natural collaborators. Sketches at breakfast became a way of sharing ideas and clarifying intentions. As Francisco makes studies in colored pencil and watercolor, Jasper refines glaze formulas to achieve just the right effect. The finished pieces prompt new conversations.
CM: Your collaboration isn’t just between two people—it’s between two artists of different creative disciplines. How has that exchange shaped your individual practices and established visual languages?
JJ & FS: Working together has meant learning each other’s visual language. Jasper has become more familiar with color theory, while Francisco has learned to consider the technical challenges of glaze rather than paint. Jasper brings his sensitivity to form, Francisco his approach to pattern. Neither of us could create these pieces alone.
Our collaboration has become our main practice, as it requires most of our time in design and production. We still maintain individual interests, though they often unfold in different directions. Jasper makes figurative sculpture, usually finished with a single glaze that lets the form speak for itself. Francisco writes short stories. Although the stories have little to do with ceramics, revising a text is not so different from refining a pattern or composition. It’s constant reworking. We’ve learned to never dismiss an idea, wherever it comes from. We try to create the conditions for it to develop at its own pace and through the right materials. Photo: Rachel Denise.
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