Meteora
Jordan Gower
Meteora (detail) 2026
Stoneware
Carnauba wax, manganese saturate glaze
14.4 x 31.5 x 32 cm
About the Artwork
Meteora takes its name from the ancient Greek word metéōros, meaning ‘lofty’ or ‘suspended in the air’, which was used particularly in reference to monasteries that came to be built upon towering stone pillars. It also makes vivid reference to cosmic mineral bodies and their relationship to ceramic chemistry. In this work, the form resembles a cratered void left after asteroid impact. The rim catches light and circles down towards the base, with the body finished in a metallic glaze reminiscent of specular meteoric surfaces. With a narrow foot and wide flared walls, Meteora is scaled in a way more for the eyes than the hands, and pays homage to the pillars of ceramic history that informed it.
About the Artist
Jordan Gower is a South Australian ceramic artist and Head of Ceramics at JamFactory, Tarntanya/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 Bachelor of Visual Arts at TAFE SA Adelaide College of the Arts. Jordan’s career spans exhibition practice, production ceramics, and arts leadership. Trained in ceramics through the JamFactory Associate Development Program (2016–17), he received a mentorship with porcelain wheel thrower Phil Elson, and has also completed residencies in Singapore, Japan, Tasmania, Victoria, and South Australia.
Jordan has received development grants through Arts South Australia and Create SA (2019, 2026) and was selected as a finalist in the Siliceous Award for Ceramic Excellence (2025). In September 2026, he will open his first major solo exhibition at UNSW Galleries, as a collateral exhibition for Sydney Design Week and Sydney Contemporary.