Kazuya Ishida: Residency
8 - 14 April 2018
We have been fortunate enough to have Kazuya Ishida working in the Leach studio. Kazuya is visiting from Bizen, Japan and is currently making some breathtaking pieces to be fired in Oxford University's Anagama kiln. The Leach studio team are also making pieces to fire in the kiln and Roelof Uys and Callum Trudgeon will be heading to Oxford with Ishida Kazuya to help with the six day firing.
'I aim to express the beauty of clay which cannot be realised by other means or material of creation.’
For instance, in my Spiral series, works are created by throwing a basic cylindrical form on a potter’s wheel, which is then followed by a process of carefully etching lines onto the surface. Then, it is thrown on the wheel again, thereby warping both the form and its motifs, giving birth to pieces that are organic at first glance and yet ordered in nature. This can be realised only through the material of clay, and my unique technique.
‘My work explores the rhythms of nature that unite us all at elemental level.’
Contemporary forms, reflect the primordial rippled textures and patterns of an ocean floor or tectonic shifts in a cliff face. Ebbing tides leave rock pools, pebbles and seashells. Specific forms with rich texture are influenced by The Golden Ratio. Using a limited materials(natural clay and natural ash glazes), the forms raw like the sea or planet speak quietly to the spirit, provoking a response that revels and resonates itself for contemplation.
Profile Kazuya Ishida
1986 Born in Okayama,Bizen city
2007 Graduated from Kyoto Pottery Technical Center
2007-2010 Studied under Living National Treasure Jun Isezaki
2011 Worked at Kigbeare Pottery, Devon, UK
2012 Employed at Whichford Pottery, UK
2013 Moved back to Bizen to build own studio, currently works and lives in Bizen, Okayama
2015 UK, OXFORD ANAGAMA PROJECT project administrator
2017 Ceramic Art London
Awards
Awarded Encouragement Prize at the National Cultural Festival Okayama
2010, Art Exhibition
Work selected for Chugoku regional Japan Traditional Art Craft
Exhibition (2009,10,11,14,15)
Work selected for Okayama Prefectural Art Exhibition (2009,10,14,17)
Work selected for Issuikai Art Exhibition (2009,10)
Work selected for Chanoyu-no-Zokei (Forms for Tea Ceremony) Exhibition (2010
Attended the Estonian International Artist Exchange (2013
Artist in Residence,Oxford University (2015
Solo exhibitions
2014 Setouchi art museum
2016 London John Harlequin Gallery
Group Exhibitions
2015 Daiwa foundation, London
2016 Tenmaya Department store (The Power of Bizen)
2017 Blue spiral gallery NC , USA
Teaching experiencece
University of Oxford (Ruskin College 2017 (Linacre College 2016, 2017
Oxford College (2017
Whichford Pottery (2016,2017
Kigbeare Pottery (2015
West Herts College (2016,2017
Goldsmith College, University of London (2017
Camberwell College, University of the arts London (2017
Clayspace Asheville, NC USA
Talks
2015 University of Oxford Linacre college
2015 Presenting Japan /TED Tokyo at London Queen Elizabeth conference center
2017 The Swedenborg Society / Japan Society http://www.japansociety.org.uk/event/anagama-kiln/
2017 London craft week ,Japanese Kaiseki restaurant Umu ,London