Year: 2024
Medium: Porcelain, glaze, pigment, gold, platinum
Dimensions: 58 x 35 x 30 cm (22 7/8 x 13 3/4 x 11 3/4)
Acquired from Kosaku Kanechika, 2026
Effects such as kairagi (plum blossom skin), in which the glaze shrinks and crawls, and ishihaze (stone explosion), caused when small stones in the clay mix puncture and burst when fired, were originally considered accidental flaws or failures. Today, they are appreciated as distinctive features and visual highlights in ceramics. Kuwata uses both kairagi and ishihaze intentionally rather than leaving them to chance. While kairagi is an exploded form that occurs at a microscopic scale, Kuwata magnifies the dynamic energy of this structure and translates it into sculptures at human scale.
