This year, we are once again delighted to present a solo exhibition by Yu Sugimoto.
When I visited Sugimoto’s studio two years ago, I came across some pure white vessels that had been discarded near the kiln. They were made from Shigaraki clay, with large grains of feldspar clearly visible in the body. When I picked one up, I could immediately tell that it had been fired extremely hard.
When I asked Sugimoto about them, he explained that he had intended to bisque-fire the pieces in an electric kiln before applying an interior glaze. However, he fell asleep during the firing, and the temperature inside the kiln rose far higher than intended. By the time he woke up, the clay had been fired so hard that it could no longer be glazed, so he had discarded the pieces as failures.
But I found them fascinating and asked him to include them in his exhibition.
He began showing works made in this way last year, and this year he will present new pieces whose forms and designs have been developed with even greater attention to the distinctive white color and texture created by this firing. Of course, there will also be Shigaraki works fired in an anagama.
We hope you will enjoy seeing the striking contrast between these two very different expressions of exactly the same material.
We very much hope you will come and see the exhibition.
Because high-fired, unglazed ware made from coarse clay can be prone to water seepage, a glaze is sometimes applied to the interior to make the vessel watertight. This is known as uchigusuri, or “interior glazing.” Before the glaze is applied, the piece is first lightly fired at around 800°C in a process known as bisque firing.
