Iga Shino Tea Bowl

Kazuhiro Fukushima’s Iga Shino is an attempt to bring together the aesthetics of two distinct ceramic traditions, Iga and Shino, within a single bowl. In Iga ware, there is a technique known as shichido-yaki (seven-time firing), in which a vessel undergoes repeated firings at extremely high temperatures. Kazuhiro applies this method to Shino materials. After forming the bowl using Shino clay, he subjects it to multiple rounds of high-temperature firing. Exposing a piece to such intense flames again and again always involves some risk, and the process is never easy. The distinctive expression of this Iga Shino Tea Bowl emerges only through persistent trial and experimentation.

A thick, powerful form. Ash deposits, scorch marks, and crackled patterns bear witness to the intensity of the flames. The white Shino glaze and green glassy beads of vidro flow across the rugged surface, reminiscent of snowmelt running down a rocky hillside. The artist’s creativity and spirit of exploration combines with the unexpected yohen effects that emerge in the kiln to give rise to a unique impression where the aesthetics of Iga and Shino converge.

Iga Shino is defined by the unpredictable transformations that arise in the kiln, making reproducibility nearly impossible. Failures are many. Yet for that very reason, unexpected beauty sometimes awaits behind the kiln door. The moment of opening the kiln remains a source of excitement for the artist, perhaps because the dialogue between flame and clay continues to evolve with every firing.