If you follow my blog or are just
a casual reader, you may have noticed that I am also keenly interested in Japanese
calligraphy. From scroll, shikishi, panels and what have you, all the way to
the expressive calligraphy on pottery boxes, ink can provide insights into the
artist or potters nature. There are a large number of potters who lend their
artistic calligraphy to their hako-gaki but there are three who always spring
to mind as being idiosyncratic and somewhat eccentric; Ishii Takahiro, Kumano
Kuroemon and Shigaraki potter, Kon Chiharu. Over the years, the calligraphy of
Kon Chiharu has become more personal and dynamic and the illustrated box lid is
a good example of his ink from the mid-1990s. The playful nature of the ink is
immediately recognizable as the hako-gaki of Kon and simply reads, from right
to left; SHIGARAKI CHAIRE. The brushwork, both expressive and dynamic is
economical in nature and in many respects relates to his pottery which is
always presented without any superfluous addenda yet thoroughly energetic. Working
out of Niigata, Kon Chiharu creates using ink and clay to reflect both his true
nature and that of the tradition which he pursues.
(I apologize for the bad pun used
in the title, it just seemed apropos.)
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