Jordan Gower
Ceramics
Jordan Gower is a South Australian ceramic artist and current Head of Ceramics at JamFactory, Tarntanya/Adelaide.
Contact: <[email protected]> or <[email protected]>
Studio by appointment only: 171 Piccadilly Rd, Piccadilly, 5151 SA. (Thurs/Fri/Sat/Sun)
Above: 'Nocturne In Black' for David Roche Gallery, Making New Old: 10th Anniversary Exhibition, 2026.
Photographer: Connor Patterson
Rice Wine and Rain Clouds is Jordan Gower’s first solo exhibition of ceramics.With a focus on wheel throwing, Gower’s ceramic practice reflects a worldview that places importance on material and process. His forms explore clay and glaze chemistry in a style broadly influenced by European studio pottery, Chinese Song Dynasty wares and Japanese naturalism - highlighting craft objects as viable and meaningful contemporary expressions.The title Rice Wine and Rain Clouds may conjure images of nature and observation, of taking time to notice and meditating on our place within the world. However, for Gower these objects, although being made of nature, inherently reflect the city. They take on the character of their surrounding conditions, where space, surface and line intersect as passing views in time.Gower’s work often includes bowls as a motif; a vessel form with an expression that emphasises negative space, where emptiness becomes as tangible as a physical object. This recurring motif guides the material exploration, grounding his practice, yet in no way limiting the possible outcomes.Ultimately the exhibition aims to present objects that encourage us to pay careful attention, ceramics that hold still our attention and suspend our sense of material consumption as we move throughout a world of apparent limitlessness
Photographer: Connor Patterson
BIO
Jordan Gower is a South Australian ceramic artist and Head of Ceramics at JamFactory, Adelaide. He holds an Honours degree from the University of South Australia, where he received a Merit Award for Academic Excellence in 2013, following a BVAD in printmaking at TAFESA Adelaide College of the Arts.
Working across exhibition practice, studio ceramics and arts leadership, Gower’s practice investigates materials, encounters and ontology through refined wheel-thrown and sculptural ceramic objects. Trained through JamFactory’s Associate Development Program (2016–17), he received a mentorship with porcelain wheel-thrower Phil Elson and went on to establish the production studio Aburi, creating bespoke tableware for multiple award winning South Australian restaurants.
Gower has undertaken residencies throughout Australia and Asia, including Singapore, Japan, Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia. His work and professional development have been supported through grants from Arts South Australia and CreateSA (2019, 2026). In 2025 he was a finalist in the Siliceous Award for Ceramic Excellence, and in September 2026 will present his first institutional solo exhibition at UNSW Galleries as collateral programming for Sydney Contemporary.
Portrait © Copyright JamFactory 2025 - Photographer: Connor Patterson
Above: Selection of commissioned tableware.
Website © Copyright 2025 Jordan Gower