Wednesday, September 18, 2019

ORIBE FAN?

I had meant to put this photo up a while back when I actually had the piece in my hands and it was for sale but it honestly just slipped my mind. What really interests me in this piece beside the vivid use of Oribe glaze and the strong form is the way the clay was cut, ripped and even brutalized to create such a wild topography, a narrative of movement and spirit. One thing I can say about this mizusashi is that there are details everywhere you look that catch the eye and show off the talents of Higashida Shigemasa that carries on from one pot to the next, a way he handles clay that leaves no doubt as to who made the piece. Though not exactly a predictable surface, what is clear in Higashida's work is an almost deconstruction of the pot from without and a tense and dramatic volume from within striking a near perfect balance in how he sees and creates his forms. The last thing I would like to point out is how casually the glaze appears to have been applied with areas of rich, running green enhancing the landscape of the mizusashi where the clay texture is clear to see just adding more depth and life to what is a rather nice pot even if you aren't a huge Oribe fan.