Discovering the Expressive Potential of Kutani Ware

The true pleasure of Kutani Ware lies in the creative freedom it offers artists: they start with just clay, and can form it into any shape they desire with their own two hands. The ability to paint pictures and designs onto a three-dimensional surface is also fairly unique to this type of craft. Indeed, Kutani Ware exists at the intersection of “art” and “craft” — creators can freely draw upon either or both of these approaches, for results that feature the best of both worlds. Kutani Ware is famous nationwide as being from one of Japan’s major production centers of colored ceramics, alongside Arita and Kyoto, and is known for the painterly style emphasized by many artists. Today, there are many different sub-styles of Kutani Ware, each with its own feel, and even though they may all obviously be types of the same Kutani Ware at a glance, the techniques used for each can be entirely different. This unity through diversity stands as a testament to the depth and breadth of expression enabled through Kutani Ware — a sense of freedom that is perhaps the most appealing aspect of these ceramics.

It All Began with a Dish Covered in Flowers

As a college student, Suzuki first encountered hanazume Kutani Ware at an art museum or an antique shop. The name literally means “packed with flowers,” and it could scarcely be more apt as a description of this decoration style. She was utterly captivated by its beauty, and when she asked her teacher at the college about hanazume, the teacher had heard of it, but was unfamiliar with whose work the piece in question was. At the time, no one specialized in that style of Kutani Ware designs anymore, and hanazume as a whole was broadly regarded as being a thing of the past. This encounter set Suzuki on a course that she remains on to this day, as she was gripped by a desire to ensure that hanazume be practiced and preserved in the present day like any other Kutani Ware style.

Blazing Her Own Trails, and Rediscovering Hanazume

Because there were no longer any living producers of hanazume ceramics — the closest being someone who made these designs using stamps, rather than painting the flowers by hand — Suzuki started by studying many old pieces and doing a number of drawings herself. Unfortunately, even the museums and antique shops she visited had only very few examples of these ceramics. At the same time, though, this lack of existing examples to draw upon had a silver lining: she was granted a greater sense of freedom in developing her own style.　

Respect for Tradition Means Constant Evolution

Tradition is about more than simply continuing to do things the same way as long ago — after all, even long ago was “now” at one point. Suzuki believes that true respect for tradition is a matter of keeping the best of how things used to be, while creating new designs that fit the lifestyles of today. Even at Kutani Ware schools, there is never a sense that it is necessary to uphold tradition. Rather, students are taught to explore, experiment, and develop their own new works. Suzuki has taken this philosophy to heart, and aims to create hanazume Kutani Ware that is entirely her own, to fit into contemporary lifestyles and sensibilities.

Designs Inspired by the Changing Seasons

Suzuki finds inspiration in her daily walks: ideas come from the natural world around her, and from the feel of each of the seasons. Finding time for other influences is important to her as well, so she visits many museums. As the name hanazume (“packed with flowers”) might suggest, these works often incorporate many flowers, but not always: many will instead feature lavish depictions of a single peony.

Ishikawa, the Home of Kutani Ware

Production of Kutani Ware is centered around the city of Kaga, in southwestern Ishikawa. Suzuki hopes that as our current moment of abundant material possessions and mass production comes to a close, there will be more space for art that inherits and expands upon a tradition of artisanal excellence. Her flowers, hand-painted one by one, exude a warmth unseen in mass-produced items, and a sense of profundity that comes from countless hours spent honing her craft. That, perhaps, is a sense of value that will prove more and more desirable as time goes on.

The Kutani Ware Flowers of Today Connect Past with Future　

Suzuki is adamant that hanazume is just as deserving to live on into the future as any other Kutani Ware items or techniques — her efforts have been based on reviving hanazume as a lost relic of the past, but she wants it to be truly reborn, as an ongoing part of the present. This passion is what drives her everyday work.

Her hanazume Kutani Ware pieces are, true to their name, packed with flowers; a testament to the trial-and-error effort she has poured into her craft, to create her own unique style of hanazume suited to today. This blend of inherited tradition from a different era, combined with contemporary sensibilities, makes her work emblematic of Kutani Ware in the truest sense.

Hopefully, her work will continue to inform future artists, who will inherit hanazume and imbue it with their own personal styles, covering ceramics with designs that depict countless flowers, yet come together into a harmonious whole. It is a style that blends past and present, inheriting tradition by evolving it, to quietly underscore humanity’s interconnection with the natural world. Suzuki’s Kutani Ware items have such stories to tell, and with luck, they just might resonate with the artists of the future.