FIRST IGA, NOW ORIBE

A short while back I posted up an Iga tokkuri and guinomi set by Fukushima Kazuhiro that belongs to a European collector and in that post I mentioned my initial surprise that he had studied with Koie Ryoji. A week or so later the same collector sent me a few pictures of this Oribe set by Fukushima and in these pieces the Koie connection is certainly more palpable that the other. Though undeniably influenced by his master, Fukushima has struck out on his own with his own forms and honestly in the manner in which the pieces are thrown and the clay dealt with. The forms are solid, purposeful and eminently functional and the manner in which they are glazed and fired breathes life in to the pieces with a sense of movement and tension coexisting in clay and glaze. This Oribe has a rich flavor and just enough diversity of range that it makes for a rather fun and provocative conversation including what could be a rather long discussion of the chrome green drip that in all likelihood will stay just where it is for the next millennium or so.