黒彩 Kokusai – Dark Embellishment

Statement

In the quiet hills of Tamba, I shape clay not only with my hands, but with time, fire, and the breath of the earth itself. Rooted in the traditions of Tamba ware—born from the ash-glazed surfaces of ancient anagama kilns—I seek forms that resonate with the present, while carrying echoes of the past.

Glaze is not a coating for me, but a language. In my Yūsai works, I layer ash glazes of differing compositions, allowing them to flow, merge, and respond to the heat of the kiln. Through subtle shifts in metal oxides and firing conditions, I invite unpredictability. What emerges are quiet gradations, delicate transitions—like the changing colors of leaves, or the fleeting shadow of a cloud.

In wood-fired pieces, I brush slips made from iron-rich Tamba clay onto the surface, then entrust the work to the flame. For three days and nights, the kiln burns at over 1300°C. Within that inferno, earth and fire converse. The resulting yōhen—kiln-transformed surfaces—are not something I can control, but something I witness. Each piece is a record of that elemental dialogue, a memory of fire.

To create is, for me, to listen: to the silence within the clay, the tension in the glaze, the voice of flame, and the wisdom of chance. I wish to continue this quiet practice—held between tradition and transformation—in the land where mountains rise, trees whisper, and the spirit of the earth still speaks.

-Production Process

After being shaped on the potter’s wheel, each piece is carved and fired.
Multiple layers of overglaze painting are then applied, resulting in a texture that at first glance does not appear to be ceramic.This approach allows for expressions that transcend conventional perceptions of the material.

-Kishō Meisō — Embellishment of Tranquility, Attire of Reflection

My work seeks to reveal the quiet strength that resides within stillness—an energy not declared, but felt. Through form and surface, I strive to offer a space of calm, healing, and silent contemplation. Adornment, in my practice, is not a mask for concealment, but a gesture of meditation. The act of layering, of repeating patterns, becomes a ritual—one that mirrors my own way of being. Ornamentation is both boundary and bridge: it conceals, yet reveals; it is surface, yet leads inward.

This series explores the interplay between the visible and the invisible. When decoration and awareness intersect, the vessel transforms—no longer merely an object, but a threshold between matter and mind.I am drawn to dualities: the front and the back, sincerity and formality, the adorned face and the bare one. I do not attempt to resolve these oppositions, but rather to hold them in delicate balance. Within that tension, something essential quietly emerges.For me, beauty is not found in the obvious, but in what is intuited—in what is sensed but not spoken. I continue to search for that moment when ornament becomes spirit, and silence begins to speak.

History