CYCLONE

Looking a bit like an unleashed, slow motion cyclone it is rather hard to miss the work of Hokkaido potter, Ono Kotaro. Most of his pottery is filled with energy, motion and even seduction as the carved piece and lines spring forth for a rather simple form that acts as the basis for creation. Thrown out of thick porcelain and meticulously carved, Ono draws movement and emotion from the simple material which he then softly blankets in pale blue or yellow celadon which presents some small weight to the overall presentation. 

 I must admit I am used to seeing Ono's guinomi, chawan and mizusashi where the carved curving furrows end like they are floating off into pace, he makes excellent use of the transition between the animated body and the tallish plain neck which ends in a thick and defining lip. It is rather easy to end up with a rather fussy area where the one piece transitions into the other but this has a magical quality where all of the vertically spiraling lines merge the the faint and subtle throwing marks of the neck. I have seen quite a few on Ono Kotaro pieces, the first being at a gallery exhibition in Japan where a mizusashi was illustrated in their ad and with each encounter, in person, in print or over the internet I am constantly amazed that each piece becomes its very own and unique presentation within a body of work that is well scripted and certainly well produced.