IN THE PRESENT

Bringing to bare the teaching and aesthetic decision making processes of his teacher, Jeff Shapiro and his father Isezaki Jun, Isezaki Koichiro has infused a modern, international sensibility to his Bizen work that blends tradition, modernity and sculpture into much of his work. This Bizen chawan was made by Koichiro over a decade ago and is still vibrantly and in the present where he has used his vertical lines, shinogi devices to articulate and decorate his work which carved kuriniku style out of a ball of clay. Using a solid block of clay which is rolled and manipulated into the general size and form he is considering, the exterior decoration of carved, cut decoration is made and then the material is allowed to season as it were by drying a bit. Once at the right consistency, the interior is meticulously carved out and smoothed to utilitarian perfection and then the foot is cut ridding the chawan of the last vestiges of weight and superfluous clay.  

In this case the chawan sits, tall and proudly on a pedestal style foot which is sturdy and balances the form from top to bottom with just the right amount of lift to please the eye. Once fired this chawan has a rich, wet surface of flashed ash with borders of running ash and a velvety bottom interior adding features serendipitously as the maker and fire strike a bargain during the fire to let happenstance and experience mingle. Perhaps my main take-away from having seen and handled this chawan is the near flawless pursuit of both the Bizen tradition and the contemporary time in which he Isezaki Koichiro works.