YOH

 The first thing that I notice about this Iga mizusashi is the posture, if you look along the right side of the piece you can see that there is a graceful, playful curve that seduces the eye and brings the viewer on a vertical journey from foot to knob. Along this journey there is a narrative painted on the face of the pot, painted in fire and various woods used in the kiln and then the eye pauses for a moment of the ear like lugs with their exotic emerald bidoro earrings that are suspended in time, defying what we think we know about physics. I love such a ride, a journey that takes in form, surface and all the subtle and overt details that create a pot, there is conversation, even story telling suspended in the thrown and fired clay that just doesn't get old even as the pots do.

This Iga mizusashi was made by Tanimoto Yoh, son of Tanimoto Kosei who beginning in his very traditional roots has sprung into a potter who sees the past and wedges it into his modern clay pots and objects. Though I hold tradition and craft supreme, it is impossible to ignore the fact that both need to move forward in order to survive and this pot and those that followed nudge further along the timeline of an evolving convention with every firing.