This image of the Santa Caterina Market is the one that really got me thinking about my work and how it might fit into the (canon?, history?) of Japanese influenced ceramics. I am acutely aware that I do not have the personal or cultural history to tap into Japan when it comes to finding influence. Yet so much of the work from Bizen or Shigaraki or Mashiko speaks to me, in the way the work of Franz Kline or Jim Dine or Willem DeKooning did when I first encountered them (and honestly, still do). And I must count the most recent influences - Makoto Yabe and Masakazu Kusakabe - of high importance - one of forming, one of firing, both for attitude and ways of seeing and understanding. Somehow, this way of working seems most natural to me.
To come back to this image: I love the way the contemporary roofline flirts with the traditional buildings that surround it. The arches that peak out from underneath. The layers of meaning that are held with the piece (the pixellated image on top of the roof refers to the produce that it protects beneath it).
What I want to do is try and embrace this attitude as I continue to work in more traditional methods and forms. I love Robert Yellin's website that incorporates both traditional and contemporary Japanese potters. Robert recently posted about a young new talent: Gomi Kenji. This work seems to have some Santa Caterina Market in it, no?
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