A DEEP POOL

There is no escaping the fact that we are all an accumulation of our experiences, a deep pool filled with all the bits and pieces we have ever encountered  which for artists and crafts people it often finds its way into their work. Each person ends up honing in on some aspect of the blended psychology of numerous moments to focus on imagery and form that at times may seem inexplicable to the outsiders; from baby heads to post apocalyptic industry and almost (?) everything in between. This leads me to the illustration of two meticulously crafted and well fired vases by Shigaraki Valley potter, Kengo Saeki (b.1969) who after apprenticing with Sawa Kiyostugu  set up his independent studio in 2003.

What is particularly unique about these two vases is that each is based on Japanese locks, just like a Western style padlock mostly seen in use in the Edo, Meiji, Taisho and early Showa eras. As it is rather easy to see, these forms, though perhaps a bit modified, lend themselves rather easily to the aesthetic and function of a flower vase with their exacting and crisp details softened ever so slightly by the natural ash built up that accentuates the surfaces. In the end, we get this small glimpse in to the mind of the maker and beyond the aesthetics of the object we are left to sit, contemplate and ponder, just exactly where the idea really comes from and what is the potter thinking or trying to communicate.

"The conscious mind may be compared to a fountain playing in the sun and falling back into the great subterranean pool of subconscious from which it rises." Sigmund Freud