Yusuke Matsubayashi

‘During my stay at the Leach Pottery, I mainly made tea bowls which we call chawan in Japan.

Making chawan is my main work and our family has made chawan for 400 years. Chawan is very important for me and the Japanese. It's not only for just practical purposes to drink tea; it's a kind of Japanese art style. We appreciate not only shape and glaze but also context and concept.

I make pots using two different types of clay. This has two meanings.

One is tracing my great grand uncle Tsuronosuke Natsubayashi's footsteps. He stayed at the Leach Pottery in 1923-1924 when he was invited by Hamada. He built the climbing kiln for Leach Pottery and supported Leach on the technical side.

He also taught Michael Cardew and Katharine Pleydell-Bouverie about knowledge and technique of ceramics. An example of his work made using two different clays is in the British Museum. Another is the representation of "Beyond East and West" which is the title of Leach's book. I think this is what Leach was looking for in his life. He wanted to make harmony between the sense of Eastern beauty and Western beauty.

This is why I use two clays, one is from Cornwall in England and the other is from Uji in Japan, and I want to make harmony with them in a chawan.’