John Born started Humble Matter in 2014 after escaping from the world of advertising.  Not a New York native, but definitely a transplant who's taken hold, John has lived in Brooklyn since moving to New York in 1993.  John has a BFA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

At the heart of functional ceramics is the creation of proxies for humans--vessels that reference the original vessel. They become the tools which improve upon or do the work we cannot do: carry water, store food, display items of beauty or value. These are jobs as old as time, and bonds which connect the past to the present; the present to the future; and ultimately, the future back to the past. Humble Matter pieces use a vocabulary of repeated shapes in an attempt to create archetypal forms that feel like an inevitable part of this continuum. They not only serve a purpose as functional pieces, but as talismans that ground us in the magic and importance of everyday objects and rituals in an increasingly disconnected and digitized world.