@takuroshibataceramics | website
I moved from Shigaraki Japan to Seagrove NC, migrating to a new place could be challenging but exciting to see new people, cultures, customs and materials as a potter. The things that worked back home do not work in the U.S. I slowly started to learn, make mistakes, and learn from my mistakes but also met people and experienced things along the way. It creates new ideas and things that are totally unique.
In this exhibition I want my work to express my sense of flexibility to adopt new things and my ability to learn from my past mistakes and experiences and apply it to my works. Creating utilitarian pottery with local wild clays and firing them in wood-fired kilns are the methods I am primarily using. The resources are rooted to local communities, and I can keep unique characteristics of the materials into my pottery.
These local materials come from small clay mines in North Carolina which are well known for handmade crafts. They contain organic and inorganic impurities. The process from which clay is made from raw materials is a time-consuming process. Most need many tests to make it usable. I don’t seek the perfect local clay in a commercial sense, but I want to learn about it and use them to create a clay body that shows the unique properties in my work. When these materials are fired in wood kilns, exhibit unexpected, and sometimes give interesting results.
I make three sided triangular jars which are the simplest form but have the true essence. I put one side of the jar concave to show a negative space as a contrast of the other positive spaces in the form. Each side has its own shape; the impression changes depending on where you look at it from. The balance throughout the piece creates a gesture and a figurative look in my piece. I leave the brush marks to be a part of textures or patterns on the surface which highlight the forms and shapes, and it records my moment spending time on the piece.
- Crawling (2021)
w 15″ x d 10″ x h 11″ NC stoneware, Handbuilt, WIld Clay slips, Red Iron OX, Wood Ash, Wood Fired, Cone 11 - Reconstruction (2021)
w 11″ x d 11″ x h 17″ NC stoneware, Handbuilt, WIld Clay slips, Red Iron OX, Wood Ash, Wood Fired, Cone 11
sown 