Mount Aso

Japanese Site-Specific Pottery!

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While I was in Japan this summer, I visited a number of important ceramic-production locations (Shigaraki, Imari, Arita, and Karatsu). I’d wanted to make ceramics during my first Arts Itoya residency, but the firing timings did not align with a one-month stay; for my second I was there for even less time due to my Kyoto solo show so I knew it couldn’t happen.

However, on this second trip I bought a small quantity of Shigaraki clay (Shigaraki is one of the six ancient kilns of Japan) and gathered volcanic ash (with the permission of my tour guide) outside of a shrine on Mount Aso. I brought these materials back with me, and made a couple of pieces!

My hope had been that the Shigaraki clay I purchased had the feldspar inclusions that lead to a sort of blistered, weeping surface; those descriptors don’t sound particularly aesthetically compelling but I really like the unique finish. However this didn’t happen with the clay I bought. It could potentially be due to how I fired it (Cone 6 electric), but from its pre-fired texture, I don’t think it had those inclusions in it to begin with. Though that was a disappointment, I am still happy with the resulting pieces.

I made a medium-sized bowl and a very small bowl, and the images below depict them individually as well as together for a better sense of scale. They are site-specific to Japan and materially meaningful!

Kumamoto, Mt. Aso, and Takachiho Gorge

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While I’m at an artist residency, there’s often not as much to post about in terms of my adventures because a lot of it is studio time. However, I do like to balance it out every now and then with a research trip! This summer in Kyushu, I booked a tour of Mount Aso and Takachiho Gorge with Explore Kumamoto, run by Helen McNamara.

Kumamon merchandise for sale in a mall.

The tour departed at 9am from Kumamoto’s Higo Ozu Station, and the amount of time it’d take to try to get there by 9am same-day and return to Takeo-onsen that evening was not realistic, so I went down the day beforehand. I hadn’t been to Kumamoto before, and it’s known for its relatively new mascot, Kumamon, who was created in 2010 and became an iconic and beloved character. That first afternoon in Kumamoto, I visited the Kumamoto Prefectual Traditional Crafts Center’s Craft Shop Takumi.

My academic schedule only permits me to do residencies during the summers, and June in Japan is rainy season. It had rained quite a bit prior to my departure on this trip, and it lightly rained off and on for both days. Honestly, it wasn’t bad while I was there, but the previous rain accumulation meant that Takachiho Gorge had much higher, faster water levels and needed to cancel the canoes we had booked; the light rain also caused a lot of fog around Mount Aso which obscured some of the sights. However, what we could still see was beautiful!

The blue lake photographed below in the Aso-san crater is sulphuric, and happens to be featured in the anime I’m currently watching called Dr. Stone. Sometimes the gases produced reach toxic levels and the volcano access is closed to the public until it abates. We were fortunate that it was open when we were set to visit! The greenish body of water I photographed nearby is collected rainfall with minerals leaching into and coloring the temporary pool. The Kumamon’s pictured below were made of compressed volcanic ash (presumably bound together with resin).

Overall despite the weather hiccups I really enjoyed this visit, and I gathered reference imagery as well as some volcanic ash to use as a glaze later on!