A while back I had the opportunity to study and photograph a nice, early Kohyama
Yasuhisa Shigaraki mentori-hanaire which is a master class in faceting and
surface. In taking quite a number of photos for my personal reference and for
an impending slideshow video, the vase was put up on a shelf which is one of my
favorite places to look at pots and in the late afternoon as the sun pours in,
the pot though bathed in light begins to recess mysteriously almost disappearing
as the sun goes down. This time of day let's me see details, lines, marks that
may other wise go un-noticed reminding me of several old movies like McKENNA'S
GOLD and THE VALLEY OF GWANGI where the characters wait on the sunlight to
point the way to their treasure or goal. This particular photo shows off not
only the form created through the faceting process but also high lights
Kohyma's trademark pebbly surface created by a specific process nurtured
through years of firing experimentation and adaptation which builds up ash
through a skillfull use of stoking, temerature fluxuation and a unique baffle
system at the rear of the kiln. The sun also brings out the range of colors on
the vase ranging from greys, blues, corals, faint iron reds and even peach
tones creating a pointilist style expression written across the planes, angles
and curves of the form. Late afternoon is a great time to look at pots after a
day of throwing, tooling or glazing making me look forward to tomorrow where
the process starts all over again.
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