Suemono

Considered as one of the most influential Japanese masters of ceramics at an international level, Kohyama has been working with clay for over 50 years. His pieces are exhibited in important public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. The essence of Kohyama’s works lies in their process of creation. The artist is in fact the conductor of an orchestra consisting of the primary natural elements: earth, water, air, and fire are the sole components of his work, and they are also the only tools that he uses. His sculptures are built using raw clay sourced in the Shigaraki hills. They are fired in Anagama wood-fired kilns of ancient tradition, during which the flames create shades of color, flashes of light, imprints, and graphic motifs on the surfaces. Each firing is an adventure and a challenge that combines natural forces, human effort, respect for tradition, and contemporary culture. This gives rise to works of remarkable expressive intensity. Enigmatic objects of silent, powerful beauty, that seem not to have been made, but that were simply born.