Yoko Ozawa

Works of the hand, the land and everything in between

• Yoko's ceramics celebrate the Japanese philosophy of yohaku, the blank space
• Australia’s landscape is reflected in the texture and colour of her vessels
• The changing seasons inspire her choice of materials

Yoko Ozawa carries within her the heritage from her native Japan, where ceramics are an omnipresent language. This tradition, while grounding, also felt stifling for Yoko. She moved to Melbourne in 2012, and the vastness of this new country’s landscape, the hues of its scorched ochre earth, and the dry air awakened new inspiration, which she translated into her ceramic work. "I am still very attached to Japanese traditions," she says. Each of her ceramics encapsulates the philosophy of yohaku, a mindset in which the blank spaces inside and around forms are not void, but instead contain wind, rain, fog and gravity. "To me it is where the drift of seasons, and tensions between people and objects hover," explains Yoko.

Interview

©Marie Luise

©Marie Luise

How does Japan's long tradition of ceramics affect your work?

Now that I live in Australia, I realise how special it is that ceramics surround us constantly in Japan. I visited villages to see masters at work, but I did not want to be a student of this strong Japanese tradition. I wanted to experiment more and I feel lucky to live in Australia because it gives me the freedom to do this.

How does the landscape of Japan and Australia inform your work?

In Japan, there are four defined seasons and they are each quite dramatic. In Melbourne, the seasons are more subtle. The summer is hot and dry here, which is why I use cracked, dry glazes in my work. The landscape in Australia is so huge and vast; this scale informs my work, too.

What is a signature of your ceramics?

I used to make fine, simple pieces. Then I began looking at the space around a vessel, so that the pot no longer was the centre of the work. Today, I incorporate subtle colour, inspired by the Australian landscape and the warm hues of the soil here. This, along with yohaku, has become my signature.

What is something about your work that people do not know?

It is not a secret, but I teach a group of kintsugi enthusiasts. I have found that ceramic lovers benefit from engaging in intimate practices that make us slow down and appreciate our past creations. One of my favourite quotes is: 'Discover new things by revisiting the old.'

Yoko Ozawa is a master artisan: she began her career in 2003 and she started teaching in 2016

Works

©Teddy Bardwel

©Teddy Bardwel

©Teddy Bardwel

©Teddy Bardwel

©Teddy Bardwel

Where