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works by Tomio Suzuki
green tea cups
sake flasks & cups
tea ceremony bowls
incense burners
vases &
tsubo
exhibitions
2008 schedule
media
2005 Playboy feature
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The Reasoning In Shino
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Shino Murasaki Tea Ceremony Bowl
by Tomio Suzuki
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"Making shino requires the same deductive reasoning that detectives use to solve
a mystery. They eliminate variables one-by-one until they find the
answer. For me, it's the same. I'll try a new method, fail, and try
another until I've found one that works."
That's how Kyoto potter Tomio Suzuki describes the challenge of his
work. "Shino", the name for the technique Mr. Suzuki works in,
originated 450 years ago in Japan during the Momoyama Era. It is
characterized by a simple glaze (pure feldspar and water) which is
allowed to run down and crackle around the clay body.
Yet coaxing the understated beauty from shino is far from simple. Finding the critical balance between the shrinkage of both the clay and
the glaze during firing is the most challenging task. If one be
disproportionate to the other - failure. And the failure rate for shino
works (nearly 70 percent for even the most accomplished potters in
Japan) makes many aspiring ceramists avoid this technique altogether.
Mr. Suzuki works primarily in three types of glazes: nezumi, aka, and
a "basic" shino. The difference between them lies in the use of a red iron
oxide-rich coloring agent (called onita) found in certain riverbed
sediments in Japan. The gray color of nezumi shino (literally "mouse
shino") forms when a white feldspar overglaze reacts with an underlying
slip of onita (see below).
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| 1948 |
Born in Kyoto |
| 1988 |
Establishes own
kiln in Yahata, Kyoto |
| 1989 |
Begins to
specialize strictly in shino glazes |
| 1995 |
Published in the
Kansai Area Museum Review |
| 1999 |
Begins
specializing in shino murasaki (purple shino) |
| 2001 |
Wins award for
best shino entry, Oribe Commemorative Exhibition (Shiga
Prefecture) |
| 2005 |
Kyoto Takashimaya
Exhibition |
| 2006 |
Nihonbashi
Mitsukoshi Exhibition (Tokyo) |
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Holds annual
exhibitions at Hanshin, Tobu, and Sogo Dept. Store Galleries
across Japan |
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Exhibition Schedule |
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Shino Green Tea Cup
by Tomio Suzuki
Aka Shino Green Tea Cup
by Tomio Suzuki
Nezumi Shino Green Tea Cup
by Tomio Suzuki
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The rust-red color of aka shino (left) is
produced by mixing large amounts of the same coloring agent directly
into the glaze. Conversely, the pink and orange hues found in Mr.
Suzuki's basic shino (lower left) form without the use of a coloring
agent and depend, instead, upon changing temperatures within the kiln.
Mr. Suzuki's works are slow-fired in a gas kiln until they reach a
maximum temperature of 1,270° Celsius (2300° Fahrenheit). After a long
plateau, the kiln is allowed to cool slowly. If this is done too quickly
(or too slowly) glazes will not mature into the decisive colors that
spell success or failure.
The clay that is used is equally important. Called mogusa-tsuchi, this
clay from Gifu Prefecture is unique in that it becomes light-textured
and porous after long firings - a quality that is necessary in order for
the glaze to shrink just tightly enough for the cracks and pinholes to
develop.
After years of experimentation, Mr. Suzuki believes he's found the
optimal balance between clay and glaze. Yet there are so many other
conditions that have to be considered. As Mr. Suzuki points out:
"There are so many complex variables that can change the outcome. Even
one small change, say, in the humidity on a certain day, can change the
color of the work completely." |
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Mr. Suzuki's works provoke viewers to
exercise their own powers of interpretation. For some, birds fly
gracefully around the work; for others - chaos rules. Yet, without doubt,
something previously undiscovered can be found when looking at his works
again at a later time or in a different mood.
Mr. Suzuki comments further:
"One of the unique characteristics of Japanese pottery is asymmetry, or
its almost unfinished quality. It lends itself to more interpretation.
What you see in a piece of shino pottery depends on your perception. In
that way, it becomes much more personal to the owner." |
Nezumi Shino Basin
by Tomio Suzuki |
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