Ceramist Profile: Kosei Tamaya

The Kiln Gods
 

For most artistic genres, the tools of the creative process - paint, chisel or even language - remain within the direct control of the artist.  Yet, when the door of the kiln closes, it is the ceramic artist who must relinquish control over the creative process, handing it over to forces that will either grant their favor upon a work or, more often than not, deny it.  "Kiln gods", you could say, who wield a tool that we mortals dare not touch.  That is the creative tool of flame.

For those who fire pottery, this unavoidable collaboration with the kiln gods holds an unsettling paradox.  Who then is the true creator?  Who should take credit for the sublime gradations that appear on the side of this vase but failed to form on all of the others?  Who should we admire when this tea ceremony bowl radiates breathtaking colors, but the unfortunate ones near the back of the kiln are dull and dingy?  Who made the intricate streams of milky blue around this green tea cup, and why is there no other piece like it?

There is a term in Japanese that describes the intervention of the kiln gods into the creative process.  It is called "yohen", and its meaning encompasses all of the dynamics that take place inside the kiln - the millions of chemical reactions, catalyzed by heat, pressure and oxygen (or the lack of it), that change the properties of clay and glaze.  Translated directly, these "kiln changes" are both a blessing and a curse for the artist.  They are responsible for all of the captivating sheens, streams, and color variations that make each piece of pottery one-of-a-kind.  Yet they offer few guarantees, if any, that the same effects will appear in the next firing.  So for most potters, a small mountain of broken shards behind their studio is the unavoidable result of their relationship with the temperamental forces of the kiln.

The Art of Flame

Kosei Tamaya isn't the type of ceramic artist resigned to let the kiln gods have their way all of the time.  Through years of experience in ceramic making, plus a strong technical background, he has gained a keen understanding of the three creative elements that are his to control:  clay, glaze and form.  And for him, only a mastery of these three elements keeps the creative process between himself and the kiln in balance and the final work born from harmonious collaboration.  He calls his approach to pottery making "the art of flame".

It is a slow, methodical and empirical process that takes years of study and patience.  Glazes must go through thousands of permutations before one produces the desired results.  Clays from different areas of Japan are mixed in slightly different quantities to find that one blend which possesses both optimal durability and porosity.  Hundreds of vessel shapes are tested to find which curvatures provide just enough gravitational pull on the glaze to keep it fluid, but not so much that it runs off the pot.  Any promising contenders must be tested and retested several hundreds of times.

In Mr. Tamaya's view, he would be remiss not to have the utmost understanding and control over these variable before offering a pot to the kiln because the art of flame dictates that yōhen, the unknown variable, should only provide the finishing touches.  Otherwise, the creative process begins to slip through his fingers and the paradox returns.

Kosei Tamaya's art of flame is, admittedly, a work in progress that may never truly be completed.  After all, the untamable kiln gods will always rein supreme inside that place where humans cannot go.  But as he struggles to understand how they work, through the development of his craft, he has come to answer the question rather confidently:

"Who is the real creator?  We both are."

Kosai Yohen Tea Ceremony Bowl

by Kosei Tamaya

Kosai Yohen

Rather than working in any established style or ancient technique, Mr. Tamaya prefers to develop his own glazes - constantly changing the mix and logging the results until he designs one that he can call his own.  Most of his signature glazes are copper based, as this rather reactive element produces some of the most dramatic yohen effects.  During firing, copper is altered by oxidation, forming emerald green colors or, during reduction firing when oxygen is restricted, a range of vibrant reds.  And, upon rare occasion, a work can possess both complimentary colors.

Since 1998, Mr. Tamaya has focused much of his time and energy on perfecting a new glaze he calls kosai yohen.  This copper-based glaze is considered the epitome of the art of flame because, when all the elements of glaze, clay and form are in harmony, flame will imbue the work with breathtaking spectral colors which change according to angle and light source; as the artist describes it, "like the wings of a scarab beetle, from morning to midday to evening."