JO ROCK

Jo is an artist and writer based in Naarm.
Of Irish-Australian descent and raised in Hong Kong as an immigrant, they explore dislocation, ancestry, and the effort of landing.Jo experiences creativity as relational, each material with its own will and influence.

  • ceramics

  • inks

  • prints, paintings

  • ash

I acknowledge Wurundjeri people as true owners and first people of the land where I live.
I offer my respect to Elders, past and future.
And to all First Nations people.Resistance to colonisation continues.

earth pigment on paper

EI, 2025, earth pigment & acacia sap on canvas

Dear legs, 2025, earthenware.

Industry sells us dietary supplements as though we lack what we need most: earth.Mining companies supply health industries with earth minerals which they bottle and sell to us as supplements for our bodies’ deficits or just because minerals and plant compounds are marketable: they can give us energy and help us sleep.Our bodies lack earth minerals and organic compounds because food industries over-harvest mono-crops and replenish land with simplified fertiliser, and because of other diseases which manifest in us. Our lifestyles are strung up above the ground.How often do I put my hands in and touch trace magnesium or crush ancient calcium deposits? Touch abundance.I really do need to remember to take my iron tablet every other day, but in the meantime, what I want is earth sovereignty. I’ll set a reminder.

Mining For Supplement, 2025, paints made of magnesium, calcium, iron, vitamin C and collagen: from expired bottles of vitamins I found in hard rubbish collection.

framed, 2025, earth pigment & acacia gum in earthenware frame

I acknowledge Wurundjeri people as true owners and first people of the land where I live.
I offer my respect to Elders, past and future.
And to all First Nations people.Resistance to colonisation continues.

map out, 2022, botanical prints on paper

missed-diagnosed, 2024, patterns of decay, prints of fallen leaves and bark on paper

medium, 2025, inks of curry berry, pomegranate, mulberry, avocado and rose on paper

I acknowledge Wurundjeri people as true owners and first people of the land where I live.
I offer my respect to Elders, past and future.
And respect to all First Nations people.Resistance to colonisation continues.

I acknowledge Wurundjeri people as true owners and first people of the land where I live.
I offer my respect to Elders, past and future.
And respect to all First Nations people.Resistance to colonisation continues.