Garden of Dreams: Porcelain Stories by Yuki Hayama

Based on the view of the cosmos held by ancient people; a myriad of myths passed down in different regions. The "Goddess of the Moon" is another work of art inspired by such ancient myths. It was crafted by combining the Chinese legend of Chang'e Benyue and Artemis from Greek mythology in an endeavor to express the hidden beauty in these myths. The "Goddess of the Moon" is the result of adding modern inspiration to the rich ancient world of imagination.

In this work, the unique beauty of Japanese colored porcelain has been elevated to a new perfection of minute design, refining it to pass on to future generations. No matter how valuable a technique may be, it will not survive unless it stimulates people's aesthetic sensibilities and captivates their hearts. Hayama has studied flowers for many years - their colors having been impressed on his mind - and he has recreated them here without confining himself to any particular season. 

Chinese nobles and literati, who were driven from their homes when the Mongols swept across the Eurasian continent, traveled down the Yangtze River in search of a safe haven, eventually settling in the mild climate of Jiangnan, where they developed new forms of beauty and art. This design of fish and seaweed is a motif that was first developed by the court painters of the Southern Song dynasty; fish represent wealth and seaweed symbolizes a safe home. Applying the motif using zaffer, Hayama elegantly recreates this one-thousand-year-old prayer for peace in the modern age.

I created this panel inspired by the nature of Scandinavia where I lived from 2007 to 2008. I still remember the affluent nature and light produced as a result of the workings of the northern paradise. I initially painted the picture of "Komorebi" as the final scene of "Flying Wood Louse," a fairy tale I wrote in Scandinavia. This is one of my most memorable works where I challenged myself using a new blurred painting technique to depict metempsychosis and a new world after rebirth using the motifs of swans on a lake and Komorebi, or sunlight filtering through leaves. 

Plants and flowers that thrive during the four seasons show us the mystique, affluence, and generosity of nature. More than 70 species of plants and flowers were painted using gosu (cobalt), and firing was repeated eight times to recreate the plants' natural color tone. The beautiful coloring will remind you of nature's fragrant secrets.

Since more than 1,000 years ago, Japanese people have cherished September 9 as the date of the Double Ninth Festival and the Chrysanthe­mum Festival. On this date with the two largest yang numbers, people pray for longevity, symbolized by chrysanthemum flowers. The straight chrysanthemum flower painted on this bottle using curved lines represents eternal life. In addition, the thin red lines drawn on the background are called miru, which signifies prosperity.

Perfume bottles have a long history. The oldest manufacturer discovered dates back to around 1850 BC in Greece. Perfume bottles were originally used for religious and medical applications. On this bottle, I painted the portraits of the young King Tutankhamun, who is perhaps the most well-known pharaoh of the ancient Egyptian civilization, and his wife Queen Ankhesenamun. People in ancient Egypt used perfume oil that is similar to today's perfume.

Perfume bottles have a long history. The oldest manufacturer discovered dates back to around 1850 BC in Greece. Perfume bottles were originally used for religious and medical applications. On this bottle, I painted the mysterious landscape of ancient Egypt using deep cobalt blue and gold paints. In addition to Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun, I also drew the portrait of Isis, the wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, in the background.

The tradition of beautiful blue that started from the Cretan civilization on the northern Mediterranean coast was passed on from Greece to Turkey, and then to Russia and Scandinavia, producing an exceptionally beautiful set of patterns afrer being integrated with the wealth of the Russian imperial family in the early modern era. This ceramic box is a combination of the qinghua (blue flower) reminiscent of the deep, quiet forests of Scandinavia, and the golden patterns invented by a genius Russian court designer. Shima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian vividly depicts a famous scene where a box containing a map is presented to Qin Shi Huang. 

An ancient civilization was born at the banks of river Nile around 5,000 years ago. Ancient Egypt was also a home to a wide variety of patterns, including the cobblestone pattern, ocean wave pattern, and cloisonné pattern. I used mysterious hieroglyphs and a Sphinx design to decorate this ceramic box, expressing the civilization’s eternal history.