Meet KPU: Susan Johnston

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Susan Johnston is a Kwantlen Polytechnic University fine arts alumna who completed her studies in 2022. A retired Surrey school teacher, Johnston returned to being a student at 60 years old and majored in ceramics. She furthered her education in sculpture and advanced open studio classes, where she delved into large ceramic installations and conceptual work. 

Johnston was a contestant on The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down in February, a competition T.V. series that revels in the creativity of Canada’s best amateur potters and their beautiful creations, available to stream on CBC Gem. Johnston has contributed to creative projects including “Sculpting Rockfish Habitat,” a collaboration with the Vancouver Aquarium and Ocean Wise in which KPU ceramics students created sculptures that were put into Howe Sound’s Porteau Cove as a permanent installation. 

When did you join the KPU community and why?

As a retired teacher, I joined KPU in 2017. I have to say being able to return to university after retiring from teaching was a gift. The studio offerings at KPU ran right through COVID-19 and we were still able to participate in-person. So through a series of six semesters, I developed these skills that helped me to be a participant on The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down. There was a wide range of experiences that were provided by the professors at KPU that I totally give them credit for. 

I do want to pump the tires of KPU because when I came to an open house here, there was an older lady in the ceramics department who was taking a class and some younger students too with their current work. I met Ying-Yueh Chuang who’s the professor. The impact of seeing them doing their work and telling me that I could do this and all ages were there, I thought, “I’m going to try to do this.” 

I majored in ceramics and sculpture when I was 18 and in school. My ceramics instructor at that time, who I didn’t know, really affirmed the strength of my work at that time, but he encouraged us all to go into teaching. So, we all became teachers. But then, 40 years later out here in Surrey when I joined Semiahmoo Potters, he was the landlord renting us the house and the space on his studio property. It was just amazing to see him and he saw my work again, and he said the same thing, “You have a very specific voice and this is beautiful, strong work, you really should pursue it.” So it was all these things coming together, and KPU was the connection. This instructor Don Hutchinson was also the instructor of Chuang, who inspired her as a young person. 

What is your favourite story of your time at KPU?

My favourite class was the open studio class (FINA 3135), where working in ceramics, I was able to produce large installations in clay. I had my own studio space and I had spent long days producing work to fill a room. My final project in advanced open studio was a piece that was 12-feet tall and it was a memorial pole. The thing with the COVID-19 cohort that was allowed to be in-person was that no one saw our work. It was such a meaningful time because we all didn’t know what was happening, there was a lot of anxiety. My piece was actually called, “Here We Have No Lasting City,” and it was a memorial pole to society and to the idea that societies fall. It was an important piece for me. It had a lot of meaning and it had the intensity of the moment with it as well, just the shaking of the global community. The notion of falling societies is a historical fact — societies rise and fall — and it was a strange time to feel that historical truth. 

What are you working on right now?

Right now, I have some work in a show with the Fraser Valley Potters in Chilliwack. I also have some down at Crescent Beach in the South Surrey Pottery Studio. My signature is large, lidded jars with Canadiana imagery and animal forms. There are pots I am working on right now and they are waiting to be fired. I make mugs also, they are functional work. Both exhibitions I am doing right now are group shows, so you’re working with a group of artists. One is a group of potters, that’s the one in Chilliwack, and the other one at Crescent Beach, we have artists who are working in different media. So, it’s just the practice of being part of groups of artists and rubbing shoulders and bumping up against different ideas. So, it’s quite a different collection of potters out in Chilliwack from all different viewpoints. Also, there is a variety of artists down at Crescent Beach. 

I hope to be able to display my work, and because it’s more expensive pieces at both of these settings, I’m enjoying being able to have an opportunity to show the pieces in hopes of selling some. But you have to moderate your expectations because the art world is a competitive one and it’s definitely a challenge. Just being able to show my work and have an opportunity to have the community view the work is very satisfying. I’m really grateful for the opportunity to be working with the group and it helps you develop as an artist in a community. You can’t do it by yourself, especially pottery. 

What is something you’d like people to know about you?

As a child, I was interested in art, but I was also an athlete. I have been in a lot of sports and sports are very important to me. It ended up that my track coach was a fairly well-known B.C. wildlife artist. He coached me for one year when I was in Grade 8, and then that catapulted me into fine arts through high school and then onto arts school. 

I really love pottery because it’s functional art. You can make it beautiful, decorative, it can say something, it can mean something, but it still could be something you use to serve breakfast. I love that it’s used, that it’s going to be in someone’s home, that it’s not out of the reach for most people to own a piece of pottery, whereas a painting or a significant stone sculpture can be out of most people’s reach. I love the whole process of making the work, all the energy put into it, and being able to actually make some money from it. 

What is something you’d like to say to people new to KPU?

I would encourage students to find their way at KPU like I did. It can be hard sometimes if you can’t get classes right away, but be patient and keep working hard. Just enjoy the wide range of offerings at the school.