BATTLE ROYALE

Looking a bit like the trunk of a windswept pine this powerful Shigaraki vase was made by Hyogo Prefecture potter, Omae Satoru. This positively medieval looking hanaire is coated with a myriad of all natural glaze effects and colors from glassy ash to crusty charcoal with a ash drip suspended off the bottom like it is trapped in the wind a result of being fired on its side. The pot was thrown and then manipulated, gouged and to complete the form, thick, nascent lugs have been attached at the shoulder to complete the form. It is quite obvious from the surface that a brutal and ferocious battle, a battle royale if you would, has taken place between clay and fire all at the behest of a potter dedicated to creating works that provoke and challenge the viewer. Omae Satoru creates a variety of work from Shigaraki and Bizen to Karatsu ware and beyond having moved from Kobe to Shigaraki where he set up a studio before moving to Awajishi in Hyogo in 2010, possibly just another step on his potter's journey. What I can say about this battle scarred vase is that it speaks of a potter who is willing to push the limits of not only clay but the firing process and every potter who does so adds a page, perhaps even a chapter to what it is to wood fire.

(With any luck, I will put together a video slideshow of this pot in the future.)