BLAST FROM THE PAST

This wonderful kohiki faceted vase is a blast from the past, both my past and the potter’s past as well. Dating from the 1990s, this Korean Joseon influenced kohiki vase is a classic example of the work of Yoshimura Masaya (b. 1938) who’s works span various traditional archetypes as in this case to rather unique, contemporary interpretations of the singular use of slip. 

This mentori-hanaire is pure simplicity, perfect lines, full, dynamic volume and a surface that is one part simplicity and another part complexity in just measured balance. Adding to the landscape, each faceted line shows through the slip along with part of the lip focusing one’s attention away from the purity of the surface, surveying details that almost seem out of place yet end up helping to define the form and pot overall. It is clear that Yoshimura spent a lifetime pursuing and dedicated to kohiki slipware while adding his own modern and idiosyncratic fingerprint to a rather old tradition which spans centuries and countries in its origin.