TRI-COLOR

In no small measure, I have long admired the general concept and visual of sancai/sansai glazed pottery and every now and again, I run tests and try my own, simple take on the technique. This Kushime Sansai Cap Jar is a study of the archetype where; form and the rhythmic movement of the slip help animate the overall piece. While the CD player helps in the motivation with Kitaro in the background of the studio, once thrown and tooled, the surface begins to show signs of awakening with the kushime, a direct and often used vocabulary. I would like to think these ridges are more than just decorative; they are part of the structure aiding in redirecting the glaze as it matures in the heat of the kiln creating this runny surface.         

If the porcelain clay is the canvas, this attempt at sansai (three-color) is reimagined, simplistically using prior glazes and oxide washes where the combination of amber, copper and droozy, washed out brown run diagonally following the predetermined furrows of the slip. At peak temperature, the base glaze thins over the high ridges of the combed texture, revealing the pale body beneath, while the washes play their part and pooling into cooperative streams within the valleys. The texture is a marriage of sharp definition and fluid softness; a topography of the seen and the felt which has become smooth from the assistance of the firing. As for the simple form, the cap, or lid, continues the movement drawing the eye upward to a central point, which is calm and still in contrast to the motion of the slipped areas.         

I would like to think (?) there is some degree of organized spontaneity in this work, though I know just what I will do. Working with slip gives you one chance and either you get it right or you don’t, maybe after 10,000 more pieces, I will get the slipwork and the glazing to work in a more “harmonious outcome*” but until then, this is just the way it is.   

(* reference to the movie, CROSSFIRE TRAIL 2001)