Created using the coil and throw method, this prototypical Shigaraki kinuta mallet vase was made by the
legendary potter, Furutani Michio. There is something so elementally medieval
about many of his pots and the well proportioned form speaks of a time and
place outside of this instant. Blending exceptional clay and woods for his
firings, Furutani Michio created works well beyond technique that speak to the
viewer on a wide array of levels and connect us to the pot, the potter, a
tradition and a way of making and living with pots, then and now. It may just
be this intense connectivity that attracts me so strongly with his work along
with the unending dialogue the pot maintains and the dedication and spirit of a
feudal tradition that define his pottery both Shigaraki and Iga.
"If one really wishes to be a master of an art,
technical knowledge is not enough. One has to transcend technique so that the
art becomes an 'artless art' growing out of the Unconscious." D.T. Suzuki
(1870-1966)
.JPG)