Echoes of the Earth:
Ceramics by Toshiko Takaezu
May 18 - August 19, 2007

Elegant, powerful, cerebral and organic. The ceramic sculptures of Toshiko Takaezu elicit a broad range of emotions and responses. Her signature closed-mouth forms push the limits of the clay vessel beyond the realm of utility. For Takaezu, closing the mouth of her “vessels” is an important symbolic act. No longer able to contain, her forms lose their utilitarian meaning and communicate as pure art.

Her “pots” boast diverse and exquisite finishes that include vibrant matte glazes on porcelain to more subdued smoke effects on stoneware in the Japanese anagama tradition. Her sources of inspiration – nature and geology – are ageless and ancient yet serve her distinctly modern sensibility. Although literally and figuratively drawn from the quietude of the earth, the forms and their surfaces are visceral, like abstract expressionist paintings. Their impact is almost primordial.