SIMPLE GOALS

“That is what I try to combine in my work; the right clay (Iga clay), the right temperature, the right fuel (wood).” A quote from Iga potter, Kojima Kenji when asked about how to achieve the correct look of Momoyama Iga-yaki.

It is a wonderful thing to have such clarity of vision and such highly thought out, yet simple goals. Kojima Kenji is a masterful potter, who’s modern Iga exudes the presence of the old (Ko-Iga) as well as the spirit of the new. His work is so casual and honest, that it born of his love and conviction to the old while living and thinking in the now.

Illustrated is a simple, yet exceptional Iga chawan by Kojima Kenji. The posture and rhythm of the bowl animate the pot and suspend it in perpetual motion.

“Nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great.” Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)