POSSIBILITIES 461

Illustrated is another of those macro detail shots that highlights the complex, diverse and even magical surfaces that Tsukigata Nahiko was capable of through his mixture of clay, iron, ash, feldspar and fire reminding one of a rich orchestral symphony or the complexity, flagrance and palette of a fine wine. In this particular case the rich iron surface has combined or coalesced in to shimmery, copper and golden crystals that border the runny iron with small areas of ash coated feldspar popping through to the surface. While looking at the rich, deep red iron to purple tones of the surface these areas of intensely complexity punctuate the surface and create small and wondrous universes circling the cosmos of the entire chawan. Though this may be a rather bold statement, I can't think of many potters who have created and painted so many pots with so few materials as Tsukigata though I know there are others. But as I look closer and closer at his work it is the balancing act of artistic singularity, simplicity and complexity that keeps bringing me back time and time again; a conversation so informative it is at times a rather formal lecture of what are the possibilities.