The unity of all life
- Haruki's hometown has a deep-rooted connection to traditional crafts
- He plays with the inherent fragility of ceramics and explores the space between life and death
- Over the years he has continuously developed his skills and expanded his practice
Haruki Takahashi studied oil painting and installation art at Tokyo University of the Arts. After returning to his hometown of Kanazawa City in 2002, he developed a strong interest in Kutani ware, a regional porcelain style, and began expressing its beauty by making ceramic installation art. Around 2015, inspired by finely crafted porcelain flowers from the Meiji era at The Museum of Ceramic Art in Hyogo, he explored Izushi ware. In 2018, collaborating with Professor Liu Runfu of Tsinghua University, Haruki learned flower modelling in the Dehua porcelain style, which has historical connections to Izushi ware. Haruki teaches mixed media at Kanazawa College of Art, where he reinterprets ceramic techniques in contemporary and decorative contexts.
INTERVIEW
While swimming in a river on Yakushima, a World Natural Heritage island, I nearly drowned when water entered my lungs. At that moment, I felt the boundary between my skin and the water disappear, as if I became one with the river. This experience is what inspired me.
Ceramic pieces are crafted from materials that can remain unchanged for millennia, yet they can shatter instantly if dropped. I am drawn to the strength and fragility of ceramics, sensing a similar strength and fragility in life.
During an exhibition in 2005, an elderly woman was absorbed in my work. When I told her I was the artist, she said that seeing my work made her determined to live from tomorrow. This was the moment when I truly understood the meaning of creating artwork.
I always strive to express the space between light and shadow, life and death, and explore the gray area or gateway that connects this world and the world beyond. My works express windows and doors as spaces that connect different worlds.
