Stop
me if you have heard this one before, a bellied cylinder is thrown out of
porcelain, over a foot tall, then is carefully manipulated creating intersecting
plains which are all covered over in a thin coat of white slip and combed to
accentuate each surface, well it sounds simple enough on paper. Having had the
opportunity to study this piece it is painfully obvious that the potter,
Kakutani Hideaki (b.1945) is quite skilled at altering and moving porcelain as
each intersecting plain is defined from the interior and I suspect from the
exterior prior to having the slip applied. This all making for a rather intriguing
vessel with a wonderful array of textures and a beautiful soft blue seihakuji
landscape all stemming from an uncomplicated cylinder. Kakutani Hideaki, whose
father was Ningen Kokuho for his iron tea kettles, Kakutani Ikkei (Tatsujiro)
went on to study with Kondo Yuzo and
Kiyomizu Rokubei VI before setting up his own studio in 1975 and was awarded
the Cultural Merit Award from Mie Prefecture for his dedication and
preservation of his art form. Born into a household where craft was highly
valued and its place in life well understood, Kakutani's work speak of a desire
to create functional objects while being ever considerate of the beauty and
atmosphere that craft presents to viewer and user alike.
"Strong
reasons make strong actions." Wm. Shakespeare (King John)
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