MASATOMO TOI

CLAY & ME

LESLEY J KEHOE (BA MA FRAS)

Masatomo Toi (b. 1992) joins a centuries-long line of creative ceramicists in the arts of Japan. In doing so in the 21st century world of contemporary art, he straddles East and West, tradition and independence, kōgei and art, function and autonomous abstraction, technique and concept. The current questioning of these divisions is leading to a fusion of philosophical thinking and academic classifications that allows significant freedom for international artists.

Self-expression is the driving creative force in Toi’s works. Clay is the chosen medium for this creativity. Toi identifies strongly as a ceramicist, tōgeika, rather than as an artist, geijutsuka, and likens working with clay to sandplay therapy, hakoniwa ryōhō. Seen here is the interweaving of tradition and independence, of Eastern and Western art philosophies. This weaving together of seemingly disparate threads is further evident in the range of influences on Toi’s thinking and creative output.  

Toi entered Ishōken, the Tajimi City Pottery Design and Technical Centre, with a thought to create ‘shokki’(domestic tableware), this having a ready market in Japan and as a path toward responsible employment. The Mino area of Japan where Toi-san lives, creates over 60% of the total ceramic production of Japan. It is also home to the traditional wares of Shino and Oribe and other Momoyama period ceramics, many related to the tea tradition, housed at the Mino Ceramic Art Museum, and to the architecturally inspiring Museum of Modern Ceramic Art with its international ceramics triennales. He notes that it is increasingly a gathering point for young artists seeking to express themselves within this background.

Toi’s grandfather had been a teacher at Ishōken, had his own workshop and was involved in producing commercial works for export to the West. While Toi says his grandfather had no direct influence on his career, the background certainly suggests an association. The Director of Ishōken is currently Harumi Nakashima (b.1950), an internationally renowned ceramic sculptor. Toi says Nakashima had, and continues to have, a significant influence on his work and thinking. Under Nakashima’s teaching, shokki were discarded and Toi became deeply involved in the search for the soul of clay, in the philosophical aspects of ceramic practices – the freedom of expression and the liberation from tradition that global contemporary thinking allows.

Nakashima credits viewing an exhibition of Sōdeisha works at the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art in his third year of university as determining his way of life, of being captured by the three-dimensional work of ceramic. He states further that his work is nothing but “looking into the depth of my heart”. [1] Established in 1948, Sōdeisha was arguably the most significant of artist groups formed post-WWII to bring Japanese art in line with art of the West. [2] This was an attempt to establish ceramics in the world of ‘fine art’, as defined by the West, and to move away from the tradition of kōgei, defined in the West as ‘craft’ and thus of lower status. Kōgei works are three-dimensional and traditionally functional, and the ceramic tradition in Japan is longstanding and powerful.

In Toi’s works we see threads of both philosophies, kōgei and that of the autonomous art object. However, Toi-san combines both in his art practice, unconcerned with their theoretical academic backgrounds. Rather he sees both as media for self-expression, for their ability to channel his inner feelings and to touch the heart of the viewer. It is personal choice only that determines form – functional vessel or autonomous objet.

In this exhibition we see both and can empathise with the freedom of a young artist to choose either and to incorporate elements of each in the search for self-expression.

The series of vessels incorporating metal staple-like devices is a design feature inspired by Important Cultural Properties- the legendary Longquan celadon bowl (馬蝗絆bakōhan) associated with Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa,[3] and the Hon’ami Kōetsu chawan Seppō

(雪峰). [4] In each of these, staples and kintsugi are repairs that over time have been incorporated into their unique beauty. Toi does not like perfection, he chooses the staple theme as a design element only, thereby incorporating the beauty of impermanence, of imperfection, from Japanese tradition into contemporary works.

The appeal of imperfection, of manifesting impermanence, may be said to be related to the appreciation of the inevitability of change and decay in nature, of the acknowledgement of the passage of time and the passing of humans through it. Interestingly, Toi has observed this during his time in Melbourne, noting the appeal of the city’s ageing walls, their graffiti and posters, the faded rough textures and the nuances of their colouring. While we may all have some idea of the Japanese concept of wabi sabi, it is its purposeful manifestation that informs much of ceramic practice.

We see this in the works in the current exhibition: the staple series, while primarily a design feature, is symbolic of past cherished use and of that usage continuing; of the Japanese concept of mottainai, respect and regret at wastage. “Fairy Floss“ perhaps recalls fond memories of childhood mixed with the challenges of growth into adulthood. Challenges have certainly been part of Toi’s residence in Melbourne. In a rented studio and with limited access to the many glazes readily available in Japan, Toi has found new pathways in both thinking and technique.

The form of most interest to Toi-san is the Japanese tea bowl, chawan. This is a challenging form associated with the centuries-long formal practice of tea and indistinguishable from its function. It is arguable that only through its function and tactility can its beauty be appreciated. Yūji Akimoto, champion of kōgei as an integral part of contemporary art, has described the chawan as ‘…the systematic embodiment of the Japanese ideal of beauty…it provided the broad conceptual framework for the entire Japanese aesthetic.’ [5]

As Director of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art Kanazawa, Yūji Akimoto created the ground-breaking exhibition Art Crafting Towards The Future (Kōgei no Mirai Ha) held at the museum in 2012, thereafter at the Museum of Art and Design in New York in 2015. This exhibition included both traditional chawan, for example from the prestigious Ōhi family, and autonomous sculptural works inspired by the form from Takuro Kuwata (b.1981). Kuwata has used the chawan as a form for his revolutionary work in ceramics, a form that perhaps now has little relevance to the formal practice of tea, but one which has captured the attention of the international artworld while challenging perceptions of clay and ceramic art. Toi has studied with the Urasenke tea school and follows the Sogetsu school of flower art, so an understanding of traditional function is part of his thinking.

In the works of this solo exhibition, we see a fusion of the awareness of the Japanese tradition of yō no bi (the beauty of function), and the freedom of international contemporary thinking in acknowledging ceramic as a medium of autonomous sculpture and free self-expression. The form of chawan has inspired six pieces, four noted as objet and two as chawan. These latter two feature rich black glazes, alluring tactility and recall Setoguro and Oribe works.

The spike series on the other hand references the abstract autonomous work of sculpture and contemporary art. First seen in sakazuki in Backwoods 2023 exhibition Obuje, Semifunctional Form,[6] the large work “Resilience” in this solo show stands proud. It is very much a part of Toi’s self-expression and likens working with clay to sandplay therapy, hakoniwa ryōhō. He speaks of the repression caused by social and moral norms, and how touching clay and creating forms liberates some of these unconscious rhythms and feelings. He pursues self-dialogue and mental health through clay as a means of dealing with the suicide of a friend. He notes that the initial works in this genre were very dark. As we spoke, Toi shared the feeling that these works are becoming softer. He is enjoying his life in Melbourne amongst open, sunny (akarui) people and undoubtedly this is manifesting in his works, particularly in some of the playful coloured glazes. Overall, Toi wishes to express the feeling of a person still standing despite being battered and tattered, one with a heart undefeated.

Masatomo Toi is a young artist at the very beginning of his career. While Japanese art and cultural traditions are evident in his works and thinking, it is the contemporary fusion of cultures and art ideas, the blurring of academic definitions in the global art world that give him the freedom to explore and give significance to his creative endeavours. Backwoods are to be congratulated on hosting the artist’s solo show and on continuing their interest in young artists of contemporary Japan.

Sources:

[1] http://gallery-sokyo.jp/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2020/07/PR_H_Nakashima_EN_20201017_SokyoGallery.pdf

[2] Further reading Pure Form Russell Kelty AGSA 2022 ISBN 9781921668524

[3] https://emuseum.nich.go.jp/detail?langId=en&webView=&content_base_id=100886&content_part_id=0&content_pict_id=0

[4] https://www.ebara.co.jp/foundation/hatakeyama/information/collection.html (3rd chawan)

[5] Art Crafting Towards The Future Kōgei no Mirai Ha 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art/Museum of Art and Design NY 2015 ISBN: 9781890385347 p.22.

[6] https://www.backwoods.gallery/2023-obuje