Kazumi Kawai "Incarnation", 2020

We will hold Kazumi Kawai’s ceramic exhibition. Kazumi is a potter living in a old farmer’s style house rich in nature at Okayama,Japan. The mountain she lives in is home to an abundance of life, and it often presents people with extremely beautiful scenery. She lives closely connected to nature, sometimes coexist with the weeds and bamboo shoots that try to invade and grow in her garden, and she expresses the energy felt in the mountain through her works. These works are notable for having both a sense of freedom and vitality as well as a quiet presence in space, and are loved by many people, including chefs and masters of Chinese tea ceremony. The title of this exhibition is “Incarnation.” She has explained in a message to us that it means…

“Lately I’ve been fascinated by the mushrooms appearing in my garden. Mushrooms are normally invisible to the eye, existing as fungi, and only show themselves in their strange form when all the right conditions are met. It’s nearly majestic, as though the mountain’s sacred energy has crystalized into something we can see right before us. Mushrooms speak to me in many ways, but the idea that our little everyday realizations and thoughts can come together for some reason or another, take shape, and then be sent out and reach someone far away, seems to overlap with the life of ceramic works, from the moment they are are born to when they eventually enter people’s lives.”

Our world has been shifting between joy and sorrow since spring due to the energy that is an invisible virus, making the word “Incarnation” a deeply resonating theme. From her works, however, one can also imagine mushrooms enlivening the entire mountain, imbuing the pieces with a hint of humor. The pieces overflow with the kind of positive message toward change one might expect from Kazumi Kawai.

Misa Kuromoto, GALLERY crossing