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Touching Stone Gallery  Santa Fe  New Mexico USA

www.touchingstone.com  Email: director@touchingstone.com

 


Yukiya Izumita

Weathered Beauty
July 5 - 27, 2013
Yukiya Izumita 'Weathered Beauty' Ceramic Show 

More on this artist:

2009 show, 2010 show, 2011 show, 2012 show, 2013 show

Article on this artist: Ceramics Art & Perception v.91, p.80-83, 2013

Yukiya Izumita  泉田 之也  

Izumita (b. 1966) grew up in Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan in an area with high mountains, deep forests and beautiful sea shores. After college, he worked for three years in Tokyo but decided that the populous metropolis was not for him. In 1992, he followed his true calling and returned north to take up an apprenticeship in pottery making under Kokuji-yaki master Gakuho Simodake. In 1995, Izumita established his own kiln in Noda Mura in Iwate Prefecture. In the same year, his innovative work won an Excellence Award in the Nittshin Menbachi Grand Prize Exhibition, the first of a series of prestigious honors which include two Grand Prizes in the 2000 and 2002 Asahi Ceramic Art Exhibitions, and an Excellence Award in the prestigious Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition in 2009.

The first impression of Yukiya Izumita's work is often one of amazement. One seldom expects to see clay honed to razor-thin edges, torn apart, twisted at impossible angles like giant origami, to create shapes that exude quiet beauty and tension, forms that appear unpolished and at the same time complete. Great technical expertise is required to create such work, which stands out even among the most creative contemporary Japanese ceramics.

Beyond the innovative forms and technical brilliance, Izumita's creations are meant to convey deeper meanings. Passage of time is often implicit in each piece, whether it suggests deeply fissured boulders, a dried up and cracked stream bed or erosion-exposed bedrocks. To capture the raw power and beauty of earth, Izumita uses clay from his area, and blends in sand and stones to create a unique clay body with the right combination of resilience and texture. He keeps his forms simple, with purposeful lines and surfaces to convey his visions. Glazes are used only to complement his visions, with warm-toned glazes to enhance earthy textures, and cold-toned glazes to evoke water.

In 2011, Izumita’s home town was hit by the devastating Tohoku tsunami 1. The disaster heightened Izumita’s awareness of the fragility of life and laid bare the irony between nature’s beauty and terrifying power. He felt as if he were a speck of dust in this world, being kept alive only by the grace of nature. At any moment, everything could be taken away and turned into a pile of dirt. In the aftermath of that experience, Izumita channeled his emotions to produce spectacular works that speak of the inseparable nature of beauty and decay, destruction and renewal - an integral character of natural cycles and the very essence of Japanese aesthetic. 

1. Izumita’s experience of the disaster on his art was published in an article entitled Still Point in Ceramics Art & Perception, Vol. 91, p.80-83, 2013.

 

 

Click on images to view selected pieces

Inquiry/order: director@touchingstone.com, see Inquiry/Order

 


  Izumita Weathered Beauty #1Izumita Weathered Beauty #1

Weathered Beauty No.1
ceramic sculpture/box   12" x 6" x 7.5"h  (2 views)
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Izumita Weathered Beauty #2Izumita Weathered Beauty #2

Weathered Beauty No.2
ceramic sculpture/vase   13.5" x 12.5" x 9"h  (2 views)
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Izumita Weathered Beauty #3 Izumita Weathered Beauty #3

Weathered Beauty No.3
ceramic sculpture/vase  11" x 6" x 7"h  (2 views)
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Izumita Weathered Beauty #4Izumita Weathered Beauty #4

Weathered Beauty No.4
ceramic sculpture/vase  12.5" x 4.5" x 11"h  (2 views)
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Izumita Weathered Beauty #5Izumita Weathered Beauty #5

Weathered Beauty No. 5
ceramic sculpture  14.5" x 10.5" x 5"h  (2 views)
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Izumita Weathered Beauty #6Izumita Weathered Beauty 6

Weathered Beauty No. 6
ceramic sculpture   15" x 10" x 5.5"h  (2 views)
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Izumita Weathered Beauty #7Izumita Weathered Beauty #7

Weathered Beauty No.7
ceramic sculpture  11" x 6.5" x 10.5"  (2 views)
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Izumita Weathered Beauty #8Izumita Weathered Beauty #8

Weathered Beauty No.8
ceramic sculpture/vase  7.5" x 4" x 15"h  (2 views)
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Izumita Weathered Beauty #9Izumita Weathered Beauty 9

Weathered Beauty No.9
ceramic sculpture/vase  14.5" x 4" x 9.5"  (2 views)
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Izumita Weathered Beauty #10Izumita Weathered Beauty #10
Weathered Beauty No.10
ceramic sculpture/vase   16" x 5.5" x 8"h
  (2 views)
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Izumita Weathered Beauty #11Izumita Weathered Beauty #11
Weathered Beauty No.11
ceramic sculpture/vase   12.5" x 3.5" x 8"h  (2 views)
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Izumita Weathered Beauty #12Izumita Weathered Beauty #12
Weathered Beauty No.12
Ceramic sculpture/vase  9" x 3" x 5.5"h  (2 views)
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Izumita Weathered Beauty #13Izumita Weathered Beauty 13
Weathered Beauty No.13
Ceramic sculpture/vase  5.5" x 3.5" x 9"h  (2 views)
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Izumita Weathered Beauty 14Izumita Weathered Beauty 14
Weathered Beauty No.14
Ceramic sculpture/vase  4.5" x 3" x 4.5"h  (2 views)
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Izumita Weathered Beauty 15Izumita Weathered Beauty 15
Weathered Beauty No.15
Ceramic sculpture  6" x 5" x 5.5"h  (2 views)
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Izumita Weathered Beauty 16Izumita Weathered Beauty 16
Weathered Beauty No.16
Ceramic sculpture/vase  12" x 9.5" x 5"h  (2 views)
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Solo Exhibitions
1996   Tanaka-ya, Hirosaki
1999   Kawatoku-kyubu, Morioka (5 times since 1999)
2000   Miharu-ya, Hachinohe (3 times since 2000)
2003   Ginza Renga Garo, Tokyo (4 times since 2003)
          Gallery Anri, Nagoya (2 times since 2003)
2004   Gallery Oiso, Kanagawa
          INAX Tile Museum, Tokoname
          Gallery Kaze-no-Kura, Yamagata (3 times since 2004)
2005   Miharu-do Gallery, Tokyo (3 times since 2005)
2006   Gallery Takubo, Sendai
          Gallery Kyoeigama, Tokoname
2007   Mumon-an Gallery, Tokyo
          Mitsukoshi Department Store, Sapporo
          Keio Department Store, Tokyo
2008   Mitsukoshi Department Store, Sendai
2009   Gallery Tourou, Nagoya
          Mitsukoshi Department Store, Sapporo
          Touching Stone Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
2010  Takashimaya Department Store, Okayama
          Mitsukoshi Department Store, Sapporo
          Touching Stone Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
2011   Contemporary Kogie Art Fair, Tokyo
          Touching Stone Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA  
          Galerie Barbara Ruetz, Munich, Germany
2012   Asia Week, New York, NY, USA
          Touching Stone Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
2013   Mitsukoshi Department Store, Tokyo
          Touching Stone Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Awards & Honors
1995   Excellence Award, Nittshin Menbachi Grand Prize Exhibition
2000   Grand Prize, 38th Asahi Ceramic Art Exhibition
2002   Grand Prize, 40th Asahi Ceramic Art Exhibition
2004   Invitational, 22th Asahi Modern Craft Exhibition
2009   Excellence Award, 20th Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition