Kaori Tatebayashi

Ceramicist

©Sophie Davidson

Frozen moments

Kaori was born in Arita, home of Arita porcelain
Her current practice focuses on ceramic sculptures
The Sodeisha movement and British ceramics have forged her style

Kaori Tatebayashi handcrafts delicate ceramic sculptures inspired by the natural world: plants, flowers, insects, birds. Kaori juxtaposes fragility and permanence, life and death, nature and art in her pieces, demonstrating how far she has moved from the strictly functional tradition of Japanese ceramics. Born in Arita in Japan, where traditional Arita porcelain tableware was omnipresent, Kaori was trained in Kyoto. She has absorbed both the influence of revolutionary master Kazuo Yagi, promoter of the Sodeisha movement, and a more British approach to ceramics, and has become the second generation of Japanese ceramicists to focus on artistic, non functional ceramics.

Interview

©Sophie Davidson

©Sophie Davidson

What is the influence of Arita ware on your practice?: I was born in Arita, in a family of Arita ware merchants, and in my hometown it was all about this craft, known in Europe as Old Imari. My mother used to decorate ceramics too. I was educated and trained on traditional styles: strictly functional pieces, shiny and quite heavy in terms of glazing and decoration.
What made you turn your practice towards sculpture?: I was influenced by two main factors. One is the work of Japanese Master ceramicist Kazuo Yagi and the Sodeisha movement. They were the first ones to create non functional ceramic objects, a real revolution at the time. The other one was meeting British ceramics, when I moved to London.
How is your style today?: I worked on tableware and sculpture for years, but currently I am focusing on sculptures. I dropped function from my ceramic objects which enabled me to stop using glazes: all my pieces are hand modelled in clay, then fired once. That is the final moment, when they become inorganic and time is frozen.
Freezing time: is that the main theme of your craft?: Before firing the piece, clay is still organic, and all my current subjects are inspired by the living world. Firing not only reduces the size by 10%, but it also puts an end to the organic life of the material. So the final piece is like a living being frozen in a moment forever, an empty shell with no life, a ghost, fragile but permanent.

Kaori Tatebayashi are expert artisan they began their career in 1997