Over the past decade or so I have spent a lot of
time looking at the various types and styles of Oribe from the rich, bright
greens, to the coral based Narumi, the playful and graphic Yashichida all the
way to the feudal and powerful Kuro-Oribe pieces. Looking at all this pieces,
old and new I am continually impressed with the wide array of decoration and
designs used on the pieces, especially the bold designs based on textiles. The
illustrated Kuro-Oribe chawan is one such bowl where the inspiration for the
decoration is likely to have come from old textile patterns but with Suzuki
Goro, who knows, the idea could have come from a food wrapper or some graffiti
dreamed up out of his own mind's eye. Looking a bit like to large, abbreviated
moving mandala, the decoration compliments the rhythm of the form and contrast
well against the framed area of buff which highlights the brushwork. Though the
playfulness and execution of the decoration may seem casual and extemporaneous,
I suspect it was the nearly 50 years of doing, making, painting that creates a
bowl that is just so appropriate, wouldn't you agree?
"Put your heart, mind, intellect and soul even
to your smallest acts. This is the secret of success." Swami Sivinanda
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