It is not
necessarily an easy thing to admit, to come face to face with, but I have an
addiction. I am a form addict, a form junkie if you will. It is forms that
first capture my attention, not material, not surface, it is the form that
first communicates with me on an intellectual and very visceral level. The
stronger and more honest a form, the greater is the attraction. Over the years,
I have come to understand how it is that I can love a wonderful seiji vase and
an Iga mizusashi with equal enthusiasm, the common denominator is the form and
how it commands space and the volume it struggles to contain. The form is also
the seeming contradiction between the exterior, which is laid bare and the
mystery of the interior. Add to this that each form can act as a metaphor for
whatever the mind conjures; so what could really be more important than the
form of a good pot?
Illustrated
is a paddled vase that speaks about form accompanied by decoration and
happenstance. This Mashiko vase was made by Shimaoka Tatsuzo (1919-2007) and
the strong and purposeful form was decorated with his impressed rope decoration
and then the pot was placed in a salt fired wood kiln with each facet of the
pot complimenting the other. Without the great form, the surface and firing
would have been for naught, but in this instance, all coalesce to create an exemplary
pot.
.JPG)