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KISHI Eiko
I was very pleased to be invited to participate in the Artist-in-Residence Program and have the opportunity to work in Seto City in the fall of 2001. Following a demanding schedule, I first visited tool shops and material companies in search of equipment. I then visited the Seto Pottery School, the mine, Aichi Prefecture Ceramic Museum, and the Seto City Folk History Material Museum. I was amazed as I observed the colorful culture of Seto and learned that there was everything about pottery here. I am also deeply grateful for the wonderful time I spent in Seto communicating with local people.
Seto is one of the largest historic pottery sites in Japan and I have always
been very interested in this place. During the Residency I was impressed by
the strength and variety of ceramics in Seto. I discovered that traditional
pottery has survived, while many modern potters, respected in contemporary
Japanese ceramics, are also actively in production. Potters here are all proud and confident of their involvement in the field of ceramics, as they continue
their steady efforts in producing works of art in clay. I found authenticity in Seto and thus I started my days as an Artist-in-Residence.
For my work as an Artist-in-Residence, I determined to work with
Saisekizougan, which is my original method. I started to work with this
method, which requires much time to engrave with narrow needles. This
precision style of working work presents many challenges, and I realized the
difficulty of working within time limit. This segment of the Seto Residency program involved two American potters; Brad SCHWIEGER and Andrea Leila DENECKE, and one Japanese, me. My collaboration with Brad in particular was a valuable experience that only the Artist-in-Residence program could provide. The work was extremely difficult but interesting, as it involved throwing my rough clay which contains much colored grog. Brad chose his original method of throwing a thick form and then applying spiral shaping with a cutting string. The strong and roughly standing form was a sculpture of a new type and it reminded me of a moving object coming to an
abrupt halt. After being thrown and altered, Brad’s work was handed to me, leaving the very important work of finishing it in my method, and in so doing, inspiring it to new life. I enjoyed the difficulty of collaboration. It was the first such experience for me and involved a lot of complex phases that I had always avoided. I could not have imaged how the finished work would appear and the collaboration thus brought me to a new world of art. It was something beyond my previous concepts and perception, letting me come
across new findings to feel what I had not experienced before. Thus, together we produced works that are gentle, tranquil and concealing something strong inside. Brad and I had learned different pottery arts in different places. These two potters met in Seto to realize a collaboration. We believe that this experience will definitely have a positive impact on future work for each of us.
We could fully concentrate on our production during the Residency program.
This was made possible by the significant efforts of Seto Residency staff.
We extend deep appreciation to the staff of the Seto City Cultural Center,
as well as the Seto Ceramics and Glass Art Center, and all the other people that
take care of this program.
I hope that this cultural exchange will long continue; maintaining the
refreshing quality that we experienced. I also hope that potters around
the world will express themselves and have a creative experience in Seto by
joining this original and attractive Artist-in-Residence program.
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