EARTH & FLAME

There is something always rewarding about an encounter with a nice Iga pot by Kishimoto Kennin, like a chance encounter with tradition that nourishes the soul. This particular large Iga chawan was made in the 90s and blends tradition, classicism, restraint and potter's journey in to a bowl that is both finite and limitless as the very same time. Thrown out of a coarse, included clay this bowl has elements of various archetypes wrapped around an individual's vision to create a solid, study form worked with care to create a lip that captures the eye without being a distraction and various spatula marks and subtle combing (kushime) to articulate the form and act as the under-painting of what was to come once it was wood fired. A majority of the chawan is coated in a semi-dry layer of ash that allows the potter's marks to show with the addition of wet ash at various points both outside and in creating glistening highlights the complete the painting of the bowl, now framed by shadow and negative space presenting a rather quiet pot .

Though simple in form and surface, there are subtleties that bring the bowl to life and move the traditional in to the light of the modern, this is one of Kishimoto's real talents as a potter where past and present meet creating the synergy of a tradition with the spirit of the modern age. It is comforting to know that Kishimoto Kennin thought highly enough to place this chawan in his EARTH & FLAME exhibition at the Takashimaya Department Store gallery in which the chawan and the interior are well illustrated. Though the inclusion of this chawan in the catalogue in no way makes the inherent nature of the bowl any greater it is interesting to get a glimpse in to the mind of a potter and see how he rated a singular pot and then how it fits within the group he choose to exhibit around it, or with it.