When I met Masayuki Miyajima, he was an apprentice of one of Japan's official Living National Treasures, Tatsuzo Shimaoka — who was himself the apprentice of Shoji Hamada. So Masa comes from a royal lineage of folk potters.
In this octagonal dish, he uses a technique revived and popularized by Shimaoka that takes its inspiration from the Korean Yi Dynasty process of applying slip to decorative pottery indentations.
A true mingei artist — that is a folk artist, Miyajima continues to make ceramic objects of great beauty that are for everyday use.
Last night I was chatting with a young man who pointed out that collecting pottery has its issues, since pottery can chip or break. This is true. And this is another aspect of the Japanese concept: 物の哀れ - mono no aware: the beautiful sadness of things. It is the understanding that life is fragile, that all we hold dear will chip, crack and ultimately pass away. The pottery I own I hold in trust for future generations, but I know that someday, perhaps even while it is in my possession, it will be nothing but shards. Much like the very concept of the Living National Treasure — Shimaoka is 88 years old at the moment. The treasures he has created will live on after him, but the treasure that is the sum of who he is will fade as surely as the cherry blossoms that fell from the trees last week. And that's what makes our lives, and beauty, all the more precious.
Comments