Joan B. Mirviss Ltd. is delighted to present an exhibition of new ceramics by two Japanese artists, partners of a celebrated couple, who create entirely different but equally powerful and evocative work. Titled MOON 8 SUN Ceramic Sculpture by HOSHINO Kayoko and Satoru, this exhibition explores the elegant, silvery, reflective and textured forms of Kayoko and the bold, radiant wood-fired and glazed hand-built work of her husband, Satoru. While both are captivated by the power and control of their medium, their approaches are startlingly different. Satoru’s work evokes a sense of strength, emphasizing the inherent nature of clay and the push and pull between artist and his material. Kayoko, on the other hand, approaches her medium with the careful hand of a patient surgeon, looking to release the hidden form within the clay body.
HOSHINO Kayoko (b. 1949) moved from Kyushu to Kyoto to attend university before finally settling in nearby Shiga. Her medium is an unusual blend of several types of clay, predominantly the pebbly material from Shigaraki. Cut from wedges, her forms are deceptively simple, with the texture of ancient rope-impressed ceramics, but a distinctly modern sense of balance and structure. The outer surfaces are pressed with straw and metal implements to create linear patterning that is punctuated by the crystallizations in the clay body. On certain forms, Kayoko applies a lustrous silver, platinum or dusty pink glaze to accentuate the curved, smooth, interior surfaces of her sculptural vessels. She enjoys great renown not only in Asia but also among European collectors, with repeated solo exhibitions in Europe. This is her first major exhibition in the United States.
Kayoko describes her process:
My work starts with mixing several kinds of local clays, which are then pressed, folded, patted, and kneaded until thoroughly unified. Thereafter I start my battle with the clay to change its inherent form and alter it through careful cuts with my wire, then allowing the heat of the firing process to further mold my vision.
HOSHINO Satoru (b. 1945) is an internationally recognized artist and an illustrious teacher, having taught as a guest artist or artist-in-residence at ceramic centers in locations as varied as Denmark, Belgium, Korea, Australia, and Hungary, to name but a few. At the start of his career, this Niigata native worked for many years in Kyoto with the avant-garde, non-functional ceramic movement Sôdeisha. Captivated by the ancient tradition of smoke-infused ceramics (kokutô), which was re-established by its founder, Yagi Kazuo (1918-79), Satoru assumed the Sôdeisha mantle of this firing technique which was not compromised by color or surface patterning and embodies fluidity and plasticity. He subsequently moved on from that singular focus and now creates work using a variety of approaches. Commissioned specifically for this exhibition, many of his most recent works were fired in an anagama climbing-kiln near his home outside Kyoto, using local shigaraki clay. Perhaps reflecting ancient shigaraki storage vessels, these coil-built and pinched vessels express a fresh and original direction for Satoru. Nestled within many of the pressed indentations on the reddened clay bodies are pools of natural green-ash glaze and matte smoke-infused surfaces. Complementing these sculptural receptacles will be several recently created spiraling vessel-like works from his “Spring Snow” series, on which he applies icy white glaze over copper-green oribe glaze, as well as several masterful ash-glazed teabowls.
Satoru explains further:
While the pliability of wet clay allows me to freely manipulate the material,
I actually feel that clay choses its own form which in turn is molded by the heat
of the firing process. Clay contains the weight of ancient times within itself.
It is, in essence, the core of life–– like DNA, whose spiral nature has informed
my sculptural vessels…My goal is not to express a vision of today but rather to
access the very nature of clay through contemporary eyes.
As early as 1979, only six years after opening his studio, Hoshino Satoru was presented with the Ministry of Culture’s Prize at the fifth Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition. Reception of such coveted awards continued throughout his career and even included the prestigious Suntory Prize in 1998. Through his focus on teaching and participation in workshops on four continents, he has gained international recognition, resulting in the acquisition of his sculptural work by numerous important museums throughout the world, including Australia, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United States. Additionally he has been honored with solo exhibitions at several major museums including: Musée Ariana, Geneva; Victoria & Albert Museum, London; and Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taiwan.