WHERE NOW?

Though it may not be Kilimanjaro, The Coliseum or perhaps the Parthenon, these fire and clay landscapes are composed of both wild and subtle beauty ranging from the serene to the chaotic. With each and every piece that I encounter by Kojima Kenji, I see these wide array of landscapes, keshiki that range from experiences and memories of my personal encounters to images, photographs (and video) that I have seen that connect me from place to pot and this chawan is no different. Reminding me of the tail end of winter where ice gives way back to rock face among the majesty of the Adirondacks I think back on the very last snowshoeing treks through  the wilderness where thick ice has made its home on rock and stone at every turn. 

As you can see in this photo, this is a strong, determined bowl with just the right amount of manipulation of the pot to bring attention to the lift of the piece, the shadow line, the posture and the casualness of the lip. The face of the chawan is covered in a translucent coating of natural green ash that gives way to the wet, fumed area of rich brown that concludes in hi-iro on the rear. When you put all of the individual details together, there is a seductive quality to the chawan that is certainly further enriched by its ability to transport you to a different place and a different time with little more than a small amount of clay and the masterful brushwork of a fierce and rather convincing firing.

INTIMACY

I was recently exchanging photos and emails with a fellow collector when they asked, where are the big pieces? I had to remark that we actually have very few large pots and have instead concentrated on pieces that circle around the sphere of the tea ceremony. These pots are mostly comprised of chawan, mizusashi, chaire and flower vases with some kogo, tokkuri, guinomi and yunomi thrown in for good measure and a certain degree of happenstance. In reality, our collecting has been mostly about the intimacy of objects that can be easily handled, fondled even and studied at arms length to get the fullest sense of the aesthetic and purpose. I am not excluding larger pieces intentionally, it is just that more often than not large pieces just lack the intimate nature of a chawan and surely the scale becomes imposing to handle, display or store and after years of being around potters and other artist who I have collected from and traded with, storage and display space is at a Ginza like premium in our small home.

Creating an intimate connection, this low, rounded Iga chawan feels right at home in the cupped hand, as if it were made to to fit me alone, though it fits equally as well in the hand of my wife and a few others who have handled it. The ability to finish a chawan so that the bottom and kodai work well together and are pleasing not only to the touch but to the eye is a well practiced skill won through years of trial, error, experience and dedicated patient observation and in this case it was created at the hands of the Iga specialist, Kojima Kenji. For this low and open chawan, Kojima first place a healthy swath of slip glaze around the mouth of the bowl which opens to a fire flashed rear where the face and back of the interior is covered in a coat of all natural ash glaze accumulated through an intense, near week long firing of his anagama kiln. Though simple in form and foot this bowl gives off a rather comforting intimacy that creates that sense of having know the piece for a very long time and what could be better than that?

REPEAT OFFENDER

I received an email the other day in which I was jokingly refered to as a "repeat offender" in that I tend to post/write about wood fired pots and Tsukigata way too often to which I retorted, it's my blog and I'll post what I want to. I have received emails like this before and it is absolutely true, wood fired pots get a lot of attention, I am mostly putting up pieces that speak to me and that I am affected by pots by Furutani Michio, Kojima Kenji, Tsukigata Nahiko, Kumano Kuroemon and others who always manage to get my mind reeling. To switch things up, ever so slightly I choose this wonderful Kawai Kanjiro henko that I have had in my pictures file for quite some time. I am particularly drawn to the stoic and purposeful form but it is the excellent articulation of the design and borders in underglaze iron, copper red and gosu blue on the gohonde style backdrop that makes this piece so eloquently conversant and immediately grabs my attention. I have seen a number of Kawai henko very similar but the background with a subtle mix of greys, lavenders and creamy tans make for a rather striking surface in which the canvas is almost as pleasing as the painted design. Even though there hasn't been a traditionally wood fired piece up in several weeks, I hope this takes a small step to a more thoughtful balance of styles and traditions.

VIRIDITATEM

I put together a short video slideshow of a Ko-Iga style chawan by Kojima Kenji that a fellow collector sent my way and that is currently up on my Trocadero marketplace. It is a large and very pleasing piece that was thrown, tooled and fired with little manipulation or alterations to the bowl from wet to hardened clay. I like a bowl that maintains the freshness and directness from the wheel head and this particular pot has captured that essence. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

You can see more of this chawan over at my Trocadero marketplace;
http://www.trocadero.com/stores/albedo3studio/items/1334852/item1334852store.html

RIGHT ON TRACK

Illustrated is a picture that I found on the web of an Ko-Iga style vase by Kojima Kenji. It is obvious this piece dates early in Kojima's career but the strength of form and his mastery of firing is clearly seen in here. The bamboo form is casual in its making creating an imposing presence with a strong ridge defining the piece, the confident marks made along the pot articulate the surface and break the tension just a bit. The majority of the vase form is cloaked in a rich green ash that appears wet and in motion while there is a triangular patch where charcoal has painted a portion of the base creating a wonderful juxtaposition to the rest of the surface. Though this pot has strong ties to feudal archetypes than his more contemporary vessels it is clear that he was right on track to creating robust and honest pottery that reflects a dedication to Ko-Iga and the personal vision of a pioneer.

"To make beautiful Igayaki, one shouldn't fuss too much with the shapes but stay conscious of showing off the beautiful green color." From an interview between Hiroshi Den and Kojima Kenji, translated by Peter Ujlaki.

ABCs

My first impressions of this pot draws to mind an ancient stoic seated stone Buddha semi-covered in moss or a clay Haniwa figure of a warrior blanketed in shades of red, buff and greys as if right out of the fire; it processes a sense of the monolith or totem, while fusing  together a feudal aesthetic and a bold presence of modernism. For me, a good pot has this ability, the pot looks to be defined by your experiences (and expectations) while creating new ones and glimpsing insight into  the process, clay and firing of  the potter. This noble vessel was made by the Iga veteran Kojima Kenji and is an amalgam of the ominous and the inviting, the energized and the calming and a great part of its function is to enrich and command its environment. Painted in hues of soft emerald green to dark and mysterious charcoal effects with a rich hi-iro on one side where one lug is attached and a deep fire born purple on the opposite, this piece is truly painted by the fire and ash. There are few pots by any single potter that encompass the vocabulary, the ABCs of a maker but this is everything one has come to expect from Kojima-san and an exciting addition to the tradition of a new century of Iga-yaki.

"It is necessary for a potter to plant both feet and listen to the song of the clay." Kojima Kenji

(Photo provided by and courtesy of the Robert Yellin Yakimono Gallery)

TAMANEGI?

Illustrated is a photo from an article in the December 15th edition of the Okinawan Times of Iga veteran potter Kojima Kenji and a wonderful Iga bottle with a rich emerald coating of natural (shizen) ash glaze running from mouth to shoulder with a variety of other effects finishing out the ensemble. Kojima-san's most recent exhibition was in the Okinawan capital of Naha where seventy pieces were on display through December 20th, 2015. This particular bottle is typical of the surfaces Kojima gets in his kiln using mostly pine for his firings with vivid glassy surfaces balanced with rich fire colors and charcoal effects. I am immediately reminded of an old onion bottle typically seen on pre-modern sailing ships and used to store wine or brandy and with the very glassy neck it puts me in mind all the more due to its bidoro appearance. It must have been quite an exhibition!

PERFECT DISPLAY

I came across this photo on the internet while doing a search for pottery tools of all things. Though I have quite a few tools, I seem to go through cut off wires like crazy and was curious if there are better version than the ones I am currently using and didn't find one, I am likely to go back to making my own. At any rate, I found this very perfect display of a rich Iga vase housing a perfect blossom by Kojima Kenji. The perfect part of this display is that the vase is resting on a older, used and cracked kiln shelf which in turn rests on a traditional tatami mat; the contrast of materials and texture is rather intriguing and certainly an eyeful. In fact, there more that I think about the display the only way I can think for it to be any better is if it were located in our home! All I need to do now is wait  for the FTD people to show up

"Wishful thinking is one thing and reality another." Jalal Talabani

良い、悪いと醜い

I'll start out by saying when it comes to choosing, making and addressing knobs for lids, I am not batting 100%, that being said, I have become aware that fewer get it right than those who get it wrong. With knobs as well as other pots, addressing knobs can seem a bit like; the good, the bad and the ugly; there is no hard and fast rules or science to getting varying pieces parts to work together and lidded pots, like teapots are a good example of that. A good knob should be an extension of the lid and of the pot, it should compliment the overall form as well as preforming a function. Some knobs are organic and seem to just "sprout" from the lid and form and others are intentionally made to look added to the form, yet still are tied in to the pot to create a cohesive presentation.

I began thinking about this the other day after a fellow collector asked me my opinion regarding a Shigaraki mizusashi. The pot was very nice and was exceptionally well fired and by a big name potter but the knob seemed like an after thought and seriously detracted from the overall presentation. If you imagine a somewhat irregularly and organic pot with a small section of pipe like knob sticking out of the lid you can get the picture. It seriously looked out of place on the pot and I wonder what the potter was thinking when he made the lid and knob? I know it is easy to play arm-chair quarterback after a pot is made and recognize my own short comings but the only way to get these details right is to study, look at lots of pots and make even more and always remember the devil is in the details and everything a potter does is the details.

Illustrated is a picture a friend sent me of a very fine Iga mizusashi with the potter who made it; Kojima Kenji. This pot is from a December 2014 exhibition of Kojima-san's pots and it is obvious that the knob is an organic extension of both lid and pot. The knob appears to fulfill its functional requirements while making a visual statement as well, all in all a well conceived and executed mizusashi with a great keshiki and color.

LOCATION

Illustrated is a rather simple, even straight forward guinomi by veteran Iga potter; Kojima Kenji. The piece was thrown with a slight amount of rhythm layered into the surface, a practical foot and the rest was done by knowing where and how to fire the pot, after all, location is king. It may sound simplistic and obvious but each and every pot fired in yakishime style has to have its location and form well thought out prior to and during the loading process. Any well made piece can be fired willy-nilly, but the best show that their placement was thought out as to wrestle the absolute best from both pot and firing. I have seen quite a number of pots by Kojima Kenji and for the majority of his work, it is obvious that each piece, no matter how seemingly insignificance, receives the attention it deserves to be the best it can be and this simple guinomi is no exception. As I reflect on the wood fire potters that I most admire, it is perhaps this quality that is a common denominator that sets apart those who truly understand their kiln and firing and it shows on nearly every pot that they fire.

KUTSUGATA

Illustrated is a very fine and well fired Iga chawan by Kojima Kenji. This kutsugata chawan was fired on its side, resting on shells which have left permanent impressions on the bowl as ash runs down to what was the bottom of the pot during the firing. The landscape of the teabowl is painted with traditional paddled designs, rich hi-iro, tamadare, bidoro and a face covered in a dark brown to black ash where some charcoal also built up. The lip is banded with wet ash that invites the viewer in to the depths of the piece and the kodai is also covered in a rich coat of dark, wet ash which feels pleasant in the hand. Kojima Kenji rarely fails to please with his pottery and is, in my opinion, one of the most thoughtful and attentive potters dedicated to the traditions and ideals of old Iga pottery.

I realize a lot of my descriptions are very obvious and self explanatory, but the process of acting as narrator helps me to clarify my thoughts on the pots. From this pot, beyond the obvious, what stands out to most is the honesty of the bowl. There are no bells and whistles, it is bare excepting the wrath of the fire, it speaks of the essence of Iga, the harmony between potter, clay and fire. From my perspective, that is as good as it gets.

"Opinions cannot survive if one has no chance to fight for them."   Thomas Mann (1875-1955)

UPDATE

Whether a pot is conservative, abstract, cutting edge or obtuse, its basis and roots stem from some historical archetype. I remember an art history professor of mine being fond of saying; "everything comes from somewhere".  Case in point, a while back on my blog, I posted up a very fine Iga vase by Kojima Kenji, now some months later, I find it actually has two distinct origins. The first is that it was exhibited at the Mitsukoshi Department Store in 2004 and is illustrated in the catalogue. The second reference for this vase is the original early Edo era vase that the Kojima vase owes a certain amount of its inspiration to, the Katachi (the essence of design?). Though not intended as an exact copy of the early Edo Iga vase, the characteristics, bearing and posture of the original, can be seen in the modern piece. The one thing that can be said about Kojima-san, beyond his pottery and firing skills, is his in depth study of historical Ko-Iga and Iga pottery. Through his study he has been able to understand the clay, forms, kilns, firing and wood choices for firing much better, all leading to him being at the top of his game. (The left illustration comes from the Kojima Kenji Mitsukoshi Exhibition catalogue 2004 and the right one from JAPANESE POTTERY (1971) by Soame Jenyns.)

"The core of his oeuvre is steeped in the ages-old tradition of Iga and Shigaraki ware - tsubo and kame, tea ceremony and sake pieces, and most of all vases - but the range of the forms and different looks he achieves within those traditions, invigorates the spirit." An excerpt from an essay in the Mitsukoshi exhibit catalogue written by Peter Ujlaki.

ITINERARY

Anyone who has traveled understands the necessary planning that is involved especially when visiting appointments are arranged prior to the trip. Having made a number of trips to Japan during the 90's, the itinerary is almost as important as the plane tickets. For us, our plans included special landmarks, castles, temples, gardens, museums and of course pottery destinations and individual potters. Seeing Osaka castle, the Kiyomizu-dera, Daitokuji, Ryoanji and numerous other sites was woven into our plans to visit with potters from Kyoto, Shigaraki, Iga, Mino, Bizen and Hagi. Normally we would make plans to meet with 6 to 8 potters on our trek and possibly met a few others along the way by serendipity, like when I walked into an exhibit and got to meet Suzuki Osamu! Though collecting pots is wonderful, our trips were about seeing great cultural landmarks, museums, enjoying some great food and experiencing pottery at the very source. A well planned trip yields a decade's worth of experiences.

Recently, a fellow collector from New England, who I have gotten to know over the internet, made a well planned trip to Japan with the major focus of meeting with and seeing pottery in a variety of locales. His trek, almost epic in nature, was all planned with the help of a wonderful native Japanese  dealer showing what can be done by a motivated collector in the internet age. Having a predilection for wood fired pottery, his trip brought him to Bizen where he meet with  Isezaki Jun & Koichiro, Kaneshige Kosuke, Kaneshige Junpei and Donna Gilliss who studied with Isezaki Jun before setting up her own studio in Bizen. Along with Bizen, he made his way to visit with Shigaraki and Iga potters, which included; Kishimoto Kennin, Kanzaki Shiho, Kohyama Yasuhisa, Furutani Churoku IV, Tanimoto Kei, Okuda Eizan, Sawa Kiyotsugu and one of my personal favorites, Kojima Kenji. Aside from these wood fire locales, the stops included Hori Ichiro, Ajiki Hiro, Higashida Shigemasa, Kato Yasukage XIV, Mihara Ken and Maruyama Touri. The stay was also punctuated by visiting several exhibits including the works of Tanaka Sajiro, Inayoshi Osamu and Uchida Koichi. As you can see, he covered a lot of ground, saw a large number of pots and did it all without going on a pottery tour. Along the way, he also got to enjoy some great food and even brought home a treasure or two for all of the efforts of his well planned trip.

Illustrated is an Iga tsubo, which was collected at the studio/home of Iga veteran, Kojima Kenji. The fierce ferocity and velocity of the firing is frozen onto the surface of this tradtional, yet modern Iga tsubo and the pot can also be seen to scale in the photo of Kojima-san at his home.

(Illustrations courtesy of a private New England collector.)

IGA TEBACHI

The is just something magical about  wood-fired pots and this Iga-yaki tebachi, handled bowl, is certainly not exception. You have to admire the way the slight upgrade in the lip which borders the bowl, acted as a barrier, collecting the ash as it was forced past the pot in the velocity of the fire, pooling to frame the pot in a rich green bidoro. Though the lip acted as a dam, the build up  pushed the ash, cascading into the form creating  streams which pooled in the center and created this glassy surface. Once again the simplicity of the tebachi, belie the experience and engineering that went into the pot, knowing just where to create certain lines and where to put the pot in the kiln. In this case, the experience and know how is from master Iga potter, Kojima Kenji and the simple pot is the culmination of trial and error and a great many years of making pots, studying Ko-Iga and wrestling a degree of control out of the flame which help define these pots as modern day Iga-yaki. Looking at this piece, it is easy to see the poetic nature of the fire, written static on the  pot's surface in dazzling green bidoro.

SENTINEL

Illustrated is a very large and bold Iga vase by one of my favorite contemporary Iga potters, Kojima Kenji.  Standing sentinel, this is a very gestural piece, though it has a monumental presence and the interaction between clay and fire has created a very evocative surface. Between the rich fire red hi-iro and areas of ash and bidoro, the pot is swept in a variety of changing tones and effects.  Though very decidedly Iga, or possibly Ko-Iga, this vase shows the influences of Bizen pottery, which is where Kojima served his early pottery apprenticeship. I see this in a lot of his earlier works and occassionally, even now, some elements of Bizen-yaki creeps into his pottery. I think at the end of the day, when you are dedicated to producing medieval style works, there will always be some general overlap between many of the ancient Roku-koyo and I think this pot admirably displays the cross currents of the older, medieval wood fired traditions.

"We perceive and are affected by changes too subtle to be described." Henry David Thoreau

SIMPLE GOALS

“That is what I try to combine in my work; the right clay (Iga clay), the right temperature, the right fuel (wood).” A quote from Iga potter, Kojima Kenji when asked about how to achieve the correct look of Momoyama Iga-yaki.

It is a wonderful thing to have such clarity of vision and such highly thought out, yet simple goals. Kojima Kenji is a masterful potter, who’s modern Iga exudes the presence of the old (Ko-Iga) as well as the spirit of the new. His work is so casual and honest, that it born of his love and conviction to the old while living and thinking in the now.

Illustrated is a simple, yet exceptional Iga chawan by Kojima Kenji. The posture and rhythm of the bowl animate the pot and suspend it in perpetual motion.

“Nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great.” Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

KO-IGA IN MODERN TIMES

“I try to enter into the spirit of the old Iga. I approach the masterpieces of that time, and allow myself to be charmed by them at the same time as I coolly analyze them. To make beautiful Igayaki, one shouldn’t fuss too much with the shapes but stat conscious of showing off the beautiful green color.”

“When I am ready to form a piece I always think in terms of trying to express the energy of the clay, but how to express that is always a difficult problem. For my kind of work, as it was for Old Iga, the clay is crucial; it dictates the pottery.”

These two quotes are from an exhibition catalogue filled with wonderful Igayaki by Kojima Kenji (b. 1953). He has been actively working to reproduce Old Iga (Ko-Iga) style pottery since 1973 and even did an apprenticeship in Bizen, to fully understand the nature of kiln firing and forming unglazed clay (yakishime). Though the work is heavily infused with elements of traditional and medieval style pottery, there is a very modern presence to his pots that holds out hope for such anachronistic work for the future.

(The illustration is an Igayaki mizusashi by Kojima Kenji from the exhibition catalogue; KOJIMA KENJI CERAMIC WORKS)

C + Ss = EV

I have often though how wonderful it would be if there were formulas like in physics and mathematics, though less complex than Fermat’s, to appreciate and measure emotional occurrences in our lives. For instance, we own a simple 20th century Oribe candlestick, it doesn’t hold much monetary value, but the emotional impact is immeasurable. Think of a great Monet painting, a well used pottery bowl or a daughter’s finger painting, the value of these objects is beyond conventional value.

In a recent email exchange, a customer expressed the notion that; “the form is the function”. While I can partially relate to that concept, I believe that the function of an object can be purely the emotional value; the function of the object is beauty. I think that though many objects are certainly made to be used, their use does not strictly define their function. An object’s presence and appreciation can enrich a viewer, add to their environment and give back inspiration just by being. A chawan does not necessarily have to be used in chanoyu to be appreciated and enjoyed on a different level than through its use. Think of a great Faberge egg, is it a bookend, paperweight, doorstop? Its entire reason for being is in its appreciation and beauty.

I am in complete agreement with Yanagi’s statement; beauty born of use, but believe the use of an object can be the simple impact it has on one’s daily life.

(Illustrated a Kuro-Iga chawan by Kojima Kenji and an Iga chaire by Furutani Michio (1946-2000), both from a private collection)

BIDORO (1)

Bidoro is among my favorite types of green. Bidoro comes from the Portuguese word vitoro for glass that first appeared in Japan in the late 16th century. The areas of bidoro in Iga and Shigaraki wares sometimes forms large droplets of green glass known as “dragonfly eyes”, tombo(no)me.

This is an excellent example of the bidoro that is highly prized. This guinomi is by Iga potter, Kojima Kenji (b.1953) who is carrying on the demanding art of traditional Iga-yaki. Kojima-san has exhibited widely throughout Japan and his works quickly sell out at shows and exhibitions. I have been looking at his work for well over a decade and the true appeal of his pottery is his combination of traditional Iga pottery with the “now” of contemporary art. Kojima-san’s pieces are his own unique blend of old and new and his thoughtful attention to detail even on guinomi is wonderful. His mastery of his material and kiln are evident in his work.

The way the foot is cut, the guinomi appears to hover and begs to be used. It feels great in the hand and in it’s use. The solitary bidoro tombo(no)me just hangs off the form, frozen in time and defying gravity and logic. All in all a fine pot by a potter who adds to his art and is well worth looking for.