April 27th - May 12th, 2024
April 27th: Artist in Attendance
Takayuki Watanabe's Pottery: His pottery is made from fragments of "earth" from layers near his home, "water" flowing from mountains, and "wood" grown in that soil, burned by "fire".He believes that making pottery from these primitive elements of earth, water, and fire is a very natural process. Soil is originally formed from rocks over a long period of time. By burning wood in a kiln and transforming its energy into fire, it's possible to create completely new material (pottery) that resembles the original rocks. He finds special significance in this process.
Here are his words: The finished pottery is nothing more than a shadow of the magnificent natural phenomenon of earth, water, and fire. But I cherish the fact that each piece of artwork is born with its own story. Within this phenomenon, I always eagerly anticipate encountering the surprise and joy of encountering pottery that I could never have predicted. Born in Shizuoka Prefecture, he started pottery in 2000. He deepened his interest in clay after meeting Shunichi Yoshimura and lived with pottery in India, Nepal, and learned mass-produced pottery in China. After working under the potter Taizo Kuroda from 2005, he traveled around seven Asian countries to study pottery cultures. In search of good clay, he moved to Minami Izu in 2008, where he dug his own clay, built a wood-fired kiln, and began full-scale production. In 2018, he moved his residence and studio to Izu no Kuni.
CURATOR’S CUBE
Regardless of nationality or genre, they continue to introduce artworks based on their sensibilities. Founded in Tokyo in 2013. In 2024, they changed their style to present artworks without being bound by a specific location or genre.
