EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

The box reads simply; MINO-ORIBE HANAIRE but the surface certainly says, this is a bit different then what you should expect but then again, that may sum up the pottery of Tsukamoto Haruhiko to a T. Tsukamoto Haruhiko (b.1959) has been making pots for over three decades originally training with Nosaka Shunsei and Asai Reiji, traditional Mino potters before becoming an independent potter and setting up his own studio in 1985. Since that time Tsukamoto has become quite well known and is exhibited and published throughout Japan having won several prizes along the way. As you can see he has blended elements of tradition with the ideas of modern vessel making that he sees in his mind's eye creating work in which it is always best to expect the unexpected.      

This whimsical Mino-Oribe vase was thrown with a fair amount of texture and throwing marks to the form and then carefully manipulated out of round and to slightly curve the pot from base to mouth with casual but distinct lugs finishing off the piece. There are incised marks on the front and back of the pot that almost mimic the incised signature on the base and these marks draw the eye from side to side and accentuate the slight curve of the form. This vase was glazed in Oribe with an ash glaze over before firing resulting in a vase that shows motion both horizontally and vertically and a rather playful sense of animation skillfully built in to the form. To complete the piece, the landscape presents a rather unexpected color palette for Mino-Oribe or any other Mino pot for that matter also creating a distinct front and back to ponder. I think it is clear that when encountering the work of Tsukamoto Haruhiko that the unexpected is in fact exactly what to expect which adds a new dimension to the modern Mino tradition.