This week we are introducing a closer look at some of our new artist, Kodai Ujiie's Celadon and Lacquer pieces.
Kodai Ujiie’s White Lacquer Tea Bowl displays a unique color palette that is not used in his previous works of celadon and lacquer. The colors of purple, brown, green, and copper, mix and dance together on the soft, organic, porcelain surface.
The veiny composition feels spontaneous yet organized. The colors seem to flow strategically from the lip of the form to its base. The cracks are light and subtle, giving the piece an atmospheric quality and in return, it reveals a stone-like surface.
This Ofukei and Lacquer Tea Bowl by Kodai Ujiie has a dense cobalt blue glaze that drips over the surface, flowing like ink around the curvatures and cracks in the porcelain. The spontaneous movement of color on the surface of the form adds to its expressive composition and the veiny red lacquer that fills the cracks in the glazed surface is subtle but not unnoticed.
The form of this tea bowl is cylindrical yet the shape feels more relaxed than structured. The foot is loose and the glaze pools along the flat surface of the porcelain. The colors seem magical, the cobalt blues deepen as they mix with the deep black iron oxide, splashed against the bright white clay body.
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This Celadon and Lacquer Tea Bowl is one of the signature pieces exhibiting his celadon and lacquer technique. The glaze on this form is thick and consistent. The form, a simple cylinder, contains a subtle push - squashing the lip of the form ever so slightly ro create an altered shape, one so light that the viewer does not realize it until they are holding the tea bowl in their hands.
The foot of the bowl is small and centered. The artist uses a knife to carve out the excess porcelain, leaving a buttery, ripple of clay that hardens and keeps the record of the artist’s hand.
Kodai Ujiie’s Ofukei and Lacquer pot is nearly a complete circular form. This pot’s surface feels like watercolors on a white background. The colors of green, blue, red, and the occasional purple trail along the ceramic surface, filling in the cracks between the glaze.
Upon closer inspection, the glaze is mosaic-like, absorbing the vibrant colors and displaying them in a rainbow composition. The form is broken, torn at the lip and body then reconstructed. The artist does this in post-production, when the clay is still soft, he cuts, tears and alters the form to produce a pot that feels sculptural and functional at the same time.
