She plays with the viewer's expectations and prompts them to contemplate what they are looking at
In her practice, Jo encourages the viewer to observe closely and question what they see. Through her versatile pieces, she plays with the viewer's expectations and prompts them to contemplate what they are looking at and reevaluate their own categorisation and value systems.
With the vessel as a starting point, she works in porcelain and stoneware to give a physical presence for her ideas to take shape. Her practice is process led and material-based where the hands-on act of making is integral. Jo layers multiple processes beginning with the wheel thrown vessel, hand building and carving, then polishing to allow each piece to 'become'. This leaves room for subconscious influences and the material itself to have a voice rather than forcing a preconceived idea.
For Jo, the slow repetitive process of working with the clay is key. It becomes a way of slowing down, and making something that holds time, care, and the touch of the human hand within it. The resulting pieces are relatively small, a size comparative to the hand, of white porcelain or smoky pit fired stoneware. The outer surfaces are carved, polished or burnished with some pieces glazed internally. They are not functional pieces, but more containers of space or time with rounded bottoms disrupting them of any use.