Ken Matsuzaki’s haptic ceramics bring a contemporary approach to traditional Japanese ceramicware, most notably 16th-century Oribe pottery. His irregular vessels, tea bowls, and sake cups reflect the artist’s singular process of kiln firing combined with more than two decades of experience on the wheel and in dynamic handbuilding. Matsuzaki has exhibited widely in Japan; he gained a greater international profile after his inclusion in a 2003 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that explored the lasting influence of Oribe. Since 1977, Matsuzaki has worked at his studio in Mashiko, where he built the unique anagama wood-fired kiln that produces the expressive glaze effects for which he is known. Inspired by the philosophy of the Mingei movement—which privileged “ordinary people’s crafts”—Matsuzaki’s ceramics are the results of a humble and painstaking approach. Matsuzaki has exhibited widely in Japan, America and the UK and his work is held in major galleries worldwide.
Stoneware. 10cm tall
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Stoneware, white slip hakame decoration. Signed wooden box
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