GOLDEN KOMAINU

Though not exactly clay related, well not related at all, I thought this carved and lacquered komainu was pretty cool none the less. The main part of the head is carved out of a single block of wood with the jaw, ears and horn all being seperate pieces that fit in to this well constructed piece. Over the years I have seen a number of komainu and shishi made in this style in both plain, unadorned wood and in kin-urushi, golden lacquer but this one is just a bit different. This particular piece was made by the famous Toyama wood carver and Toyama Prefectural Designated Intangable Asset; Yokoyama Kazuo (1911-2000). Though very well known for his articulated Shishi and Ikaku heads, Yokoyama also carved a wide variety of Buddhist figures, flowers, fish, hawks/eagles and decorative ramma for homes and temples. I said that this had literally nothing to do with clay but in certain respects that is not true as the very same things that draw me to pottery also grasps my attention in many of the other applied arts, namely; individuality, skill, creativity, expressiveness and above all a voice that shines through to maintain a meaningful conversation between material, artist, craftsman and viewer.