Jacaranda Kori was born in Mexico City in 1966 and immigrated to Israel in 1987, an experience that significantly shaped her art, blending elements of these two rich cultures.
She graduated with honors from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem in 1991 and later earned a Master’s degree in Philosophy and Arts from Tel Aviv University in 2021. In 1992, Kori founded her own ceramic studio in Tel Aviv, where she has been creating ceramic art ever since. Balancing her roles as both an artist and an educator, she has held the position of Senior Lecturer at the Bezalel Academy of Fine Art and Design since 2007.
Kori’s talent has been recognized with multiple prizes and awards, and her art has been presented in solo exhibitions in Israel and group exhibitions on the global stage, such as SOFA – The International Exposition of Sculpture Objects & Functional Art in Chicago, USA, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, USA. She has also been featured in the Premier Biennale des Creatrices Mediterraneennes in Marseilles and numerous Biennales for Israeli Ceramics at the Eretz Israel Museum in Israel.
Kori’s dedication to her craft has led her to participate in various national and international residencies, including her role as a Guest Artist at the 28th International Symposium of Ceramics at SUNY New Paltz, New York, USA, as well as residencies at Watershed in Maine, USA, and Drexel University Art and Art History Department in Philadelphia, USA. Since 2006, Jacaranda Kori has been a distinguished represented artist with AIDA, the Association of Israeli Decorative Arts and her work is being sold around the world to individuals and collectors.
Visit Jacaranda Kori’s website and Instagram page.
Featured work
Becoming Plastic, 2022
As a potter, I am deeply rooted in the ceramic tradition, infusing it with a contemporary twist to craft vessels and ceramic objects. My approach is marked by a commitment to authenticity, avoiding complexity for the sake of ostentation and any radical desire for revolution. Instead, I embrace the immediacy, naivety, and boundless energy of joie de vivre. My hands mold and reshape the wheel-formed vessel until it assumes a shape that is intriguing yet not entirely foreign—a vessel that pays homage to shapes from the past while bearing my unique and contemporary imprint.
In recent years, I’ve been captivated by the concept of constructing site specific installations. Within these, an assortment of items, some easily deciphered and others shrouded in enigma, come together to form a kind of self-portrait. These items are marked by their allure, beauty, vibrant colors, and an inherent sense of magic, sensuality, and surrealism. My artistic language draws inspiration from a diverse tapestry of sources: the organic wonders of nature, the rich Western and pre-Columbian ceramic traditions, the vibrant tapestries of Mexico’s popular art and folklore, the feminist paintings of Frida Kahlo, and the architecture and works of Antoni Gaudí. More recently, my art reflects my growing concern about global pollution and global warming.
