John Born started Humble Matter in 2014 after escaping from the world of advertising.John has lived in Brooklyn since moving to New York in 1993.  John has a BFA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.and was a student at Greenwich House Pottery (the oldest non-profit ceramics studio in the US). 

Living in a digital age many people find themselves yearning for something more real, more connected to history, Humble Matter delivers. John's inspiration includes Cycladic pottery and early 20th century modernist sculptures, with references to Constantin Brancusi, Hans Coper, Ettore Sottsass and Ruth Duckworth.

John Born, the ceramicist behind the label creates a world with his pottery. the shape of a vessel subconsciously reminds us of our favorite mixing bowl or a ledge, our favorite plate, or maybe it really does remind us of ancient ceremonial pottery. 

John sees ceramics as proxies for the human form—vessels that reference the original vessel. Ceramics improve upon or do the work which we cannot: 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.