THE ORIGINAL CLAY

In some respects, this is a simple form and surface, both honed through trial and error, practice after all makes perfect. Made out of a highfire stoneware clay, the bowl was constructed to be double-walled, hollow to define the recessed pool area creating the Fujiyama silhouette and creating this unique look. The vessel was then glazed in a wonderful ash glaze and fired where the final process created an evocative surface of reflective and refractive rich crackled green with streams pouring into the recess accumulating in to an otherworldly pool of pure gem like glass all finished off with a handmade, custom wood lid. Completing this mizusashi is a Rimpa influenced narration of time and space with mountain, sea and moon creating both mood and connection to a viewers experience, a tether from past to present. As I said, seems simple enough but if you consider the basic idea, the construction, careful drying, glazing, firing and then the addition of the gold sickle moon and the creation of the custom form fitting mizusashi lid and matching ceramic knob. I think it clear that the use of the term simple is quite the misnomer in regards to all that is involved from concept to completion. It should be noted that none of the above doesn't even consider the idea, the genesis of form which is no easy task, from beginning to maturity, there is nothing simple in that line of development and the number of pieces created through trial and error to get to its current manifestation.      

Seeing this piece, I have to admit, my mind easily conjures up visions of some  Rimpa or Nihonga painting or even some old waka or haiku poem in which a deep pool reflects the majesty of Mount Fuji. In this case, the small sea or deep pool is created out of clay and covered in an emerald coating of ash (haiyu) in which the silhouetted vision of Fujiyama is hidden until the lid is removed. In fact in a brief email exchange with Kato Koji I asked him about the inspiration behind his closed form vessels and mizusashi and he confirmed my thoughts; "The water jar is a work that has been made with the motif of the impression of looking into the sea or river" and in this case reflecting perhaps the most iconic image from Japan, Fuji-san.          

In my communications with Kato-san I was able to understand more about his work and approach to pottery that would seem to center around having a tremendous reverence for the traditional and local materials of Gifu Prefecture and the Mino tradition. The clays are blended for maximum effect  which includes local "mountain" clays and he has developed a palette of glazes that best suit his needs to express his thoughts regarding the traditions he works in even where they are oriented to a rather modern sense. Currently he is engaged in experimenting with new clays to help lighten the weight of pots that are increasing in scale that continue to work well in the fierce environment of the anagama and still work well with existing and potentially future glazes which he uses. It is also clear to see that there are elements of influence that have trickled in to his work from his master, Kato Kozo as well as the adventurous works of Kamoda Shoji and Kuriki Tatsusuke, two potters that he discussed as further influences to his work.         

Beyond Kato's creative vessels and objects, his roots go back to traditional Mino pottery including a wide array of "using" pots and chadogu where he also produces strong Oribe works using a variety of styles from Ao-Oribe to Narumi-Oribe. His chawan are highly regarded and he has won a number of awards for his chawan including the Grand Prize for his work at a chawan exhibition in 2007 with several other awards along the years. Despite his affinity for these modern vessels and forms that push at the boundaries of Mino tradition Kato Yoji is well entrenched in his "inheritance" from generations working before him at his family kiln which he now runs and makes use of both a traditional wood fired anagama and gas kilns, each chosen for specific needs and objectives be they traditional chadogu or modern vessels.     

If you look at Kato Yoji's departure from the age old qualities of the tradition and his kiln, the work shows an outside the box thinking that infuses bits and pieces of what has already transpired together with a modern understanding or what clay can do and say, its potential having only the limitations of its plasticity, technology, physics and creativity. Admittedly  some contemporary pots seem to defy what Newton and Einstein thought immutable Kato Yoji's works seem to be rather grounded in a somewhat conservative vessel orientation though beset by desiccation, antiquity and the very cycle of nature from birth, decay and rebirth . Interestingly enough, for some of his works, the surfaces and construction seems as if it can be changing before your very eyes with areas missing, decaying and creating vast negative space where all of this just adds more to the objects and vessels and gives them an edge forged from old traditions but looking distantly in to the future.

  I thought it would be remiss of me if I didn't mention Kato Yoji also has a rather impressive track record for both exhibitions and shows  including in China as well as juried and invitational exhibitions all around Japan where he has won a number of awards for his chadogu and vessels. Collected throughout Japan and abroad, his works are also published in a number of catalogues including but not limited to the following;   

CONTEMPORARY CERAMICS IN MINO; Old Gives Rise To New (1997) Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum   

MINO CERAMICS NOW 2004, Museum of Modern ceramic Art, Gifu    

MINO, The 30th Anniversary Directory of the Mino Ceramic Art Association  (1992)   

In conclusion it is probably best to let Kato Yoji sum up his simple philosophy in a single sentence;    

"I use the technique of Yakijime and Haiyu, which bring out the character of the raw material: the original clay, which is infused with the power of nature, Japan's history and culture, and the realities of the present." . ( Kato Yoji  from the MINO DIRECTORY 1992)  

(The first illustration is of the Fujiyama mizusashi, a somewhat eccentric piece but functional none the less, the second illustration is of a more natural, modern vessel that was illustrated in CONTEMPORARY CERAMICS IN MINO; Old Gives Rise To New (1997) and is not my picture but I thought it worth showing the two varied approaches.)