This vase was thrown by Koji Susukida, one of the many traditional potters inspired by Shoji Hamada, the man responsible for reviving the Japanese folk ceramic tradition. Susukida lives just down the road from Hamada's old studio in Mashiko, and works on a kick-wheel. His apprentices wake up at 4am, and start wedging the cold clay. If you sat in his studio, apart from the electric light, and the radio there is little that would tell you that you're in the 21st. Century.
Bet you were thinking that after yesterday's post on kosher pot that a subject entitled "perfectly potted" was going somewhere else. Nope. Contemporary folk ceramics are one of my passions.
Susukida works with salt glazes — so that even the bricks in his kiln take on a beautiful glazed effect. Should you find yourself in Mashiko, look for his work at any of the cooperative pottery shops — where the local artists have banded together to sell to the public outside of the gallery system.
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