26436 KUMANO Kurouemon Echizen Cylinder Teacup

Height: 9.2 cm
Diameter: 9.1 cm

Kuroemon Kumano believes that the essence of "beauty" or "life" must lie in what flickers, like a mere phantom, within the extreme. With this in mind, one of the great propositions he poses to himself as a ceramic artist is: "Where is the boundary between pottery and monsters?"

Regrettably, there is no single answer to this; it is something that individuals possessing a wealth of experience, knowledge, and keen sensibility can only judge from their respective positions as connoisseurs. Nevertheless, what the artist Kumano aims for is, above all, the universality of "beauty."

The series of works created based on such questions and contemplations exhibit unique characteristics that overwhelm everything else, where the conscious, powerful forms of "vases" (referred to as *tabimakura* or *jizo*), "jars," or "teabowls" meet the natural forms achieved after the Echizen clay is fired to the point of collapse. While terms like "rustic" or "dynamic" seem hollow when describing his range of work, each piece is meticulously crafted with its intended use as a vessel or tool for dining in mind, and all are brimming with a sense of vitality.

Watching Mr. Kuroemon Kumano, who incessantly pursues beauty while exploring the very process of firing, one is repeatedly reminded that this must have been the way of the "primordial ceramic artist" that we have unknowingly begun to forget.