'Torn' Rectangular Dish
Artist
Kato Tsubusa
(Japanese, born 1962)
Date2002
Mediumglazed "bluish-white" porcelain (seihaku-ji)
Dimensions9.3 x 41.5 x 31.5 cm (3 11/16 x 16 5/16 x 12 3/8 in.)
ClassificationsCeramics
Credit LineAlexander H. Bullock Fund
Object number2004.34
Descriptionwith paulownia wood boxLabel TextThe porcelain body of Kato Tsubusa's functional yet highly sculptural dish "Torn" is embellished with a transparent glaze, forming pools and drips of icy blue. With its sharp, ragged and fragile edges, this dramatic piece challenges the traditional, gem-like perfection and balance associated with celadon works. Kato works with fine, snow-white New Zealand kaolin clay. He says that he is "addicted," to the sticky porcelain clay and has grown to appreciate that it is extremely challenging to shape. Since many factories near his native Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture import this clay for industrial products, Kato will purchase one or two tons of it and have it mixed in a local clay-mixer. A graduate of Tajimi City Ceramic Design Institute, Kato trained to create images for molding as well as the plaster molds needed for their mass production. Kato emerged with vigor as a rebellious and unconventional potter while working in local kilns doing repetitive manufacturing tasks and decorating teacups. He has had numerous solo exhibitions in Japan and examples of his work were included in "New Expression in Porcelain: Developments in the 1990s," an exhibit held at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo in 1996.
On View
On viewCurrent Location
- Exhibition Location Gallery 108
Chinese
Late Yuan dynsaty (1279–1368)
Chinese
Late Northern Song Dynasty (1042–1127)
Chinese
Tongzhi period (1862–1874) of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911)