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Touching Stone Gallery  Santa Fe  New Mexico USA

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

 

Yukiya Izumita

2009 America Debut Solo Exhibition: May 1 - June 3

Forms Unbound

Yukiya Izumita 2009 America Debut Exhibition

See more work by this artist:  2009 show, 2010 show, 2011 show, 2012 show, 2013 show

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

 

Yukiya Izumita   泉田 之也

Touching Stone Gallery is privileged to host the first solo exhibition of Yukiya Izumita's extraordinary ceramic work in the US.

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 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 2009 Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition.

The first impression of 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. As an artist, Izumita feels a strong connection to nature, especially to the muted colors and roughness of earth in his surroundings. He has a keen sense of the changing seasons, the passage of time, erosion and decay that give texture and character to everything. Izumita has nurtured a strong emotional resonance to the beauty around him, and he wants to share his feelings with others through his ceramic work.

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. He uses both a gas kiln and a wood-fueled kiln for different effects. Glazes are used only to complement his visions, with warm-toned glazes to enhance earthy textures, and cold-toned glazes to evoke water.

The most important element in Izumita's work is hard to define physically: Passage of time is often implicit in each piece, whether it suggests deeply fissured boulders, a dried up and cracked stream bed, or jagged layers of erosion-exposed bedrocks. Each piece speaks silently of a personal dialog with nature. The conversation is so sensitive and eloquent, one cannot help but hear its echo and feel the artist's emotion, and be moved by it.

  Click on images to view selected pieces

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

 

Yukiya Izumita vase 1

Vase Form No. 1

  wood-fired ceramic   8.5" x 8.5" x 5.5"  (2 views)

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Yukiya Izumita covered box 2

Box w/ Cover No. 2

  Ceramic   15" x 5" x 9"  (2 views)

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Yukiya Izumita Form 3

Form No. 3 -  "Ravine"

  Wood-fired ceramic   25" x 8" x 6.5"  (2 views)

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Yukiya Izumita Form 4

Form No. 4 -  "Dune"

  Ceramic   16 " x 12" x 6"   (2 views)

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Yukiya Izumita covered box 5

Box w/ Cover No. 5

  Ceramic   19" x 4. 5" x 13"  (2 views)

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Yukiya Izumita vase 6

Vase Form No. 6

  wood-fired ceramic   15 " x 11" x 6.5"   (2 views)

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Izumita covered box 7

Box w/ Cover No. 7

  Ceramic    4" x 4" x 13.5"   (2 views)

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Izumita covered box 8

Box w/ Cover No. 8

  Ceramic   11" x 3.5 " x 8.5"   (2 views)

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Izumita vase 9

Vase Form No. 9

  Ceramic   10.5" x 3" x 9"  (2 views)

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Yukiya Izumita Layered vase 10

Vase Form No. 10

  Ceramic   7" x 5.5" x 5"  (2 views)

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Izumita Vase 11

Vase Form No. 11

  Ceramic   11.5" x 2.5" x 6.5"  (2 views)

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Izumita Vase 12

Vase Form No. 12

  Ceramic   11.5" x 4" x 10.5"  (2 views)

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Izumita Vase 13

Vase Form No. 13

  Ceramic   11" x 4.5" x 11"  (2 views)

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Izumita Vase 14

Izumita Vase 15

Vase Form No. 14

  Ceramic   9" x 4" x 11"  (2 views)

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Vase Form No. 15

  Ceramic   6" x 3" x 10.5"  (2 views)

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Yukiya Izumita vase 16

Vase Form No. 16

  Ceramic   7.5" x 8" x 6.5"  (2 views)

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Izumita vase 17

Izumita vase 18

Vase Form No. 17

  Ceramic   6" x 5.5" x 4"

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Vase Form No. 18

  Ceramic   5" x 5" x 4"

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Vase Form No. 19

  Ceramic   6.5" x 4.5" x 3.5"

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Izumita vase 20

Izumita vase 22

Vase Form No. 20

  Ceramic   2.5" x 2.5" x 5.5"

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 Vase Form No. 22

  Ceramic   4.5" x 2.5" x 4"

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Vase Form No. 21

  Ceramic   2.5" x 2.5" x 6"

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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

          20th Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition, Tokyo 

          Keio Department store, Tokyo

2010   Touching Stone Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

           Takashimaya Department Store, Sapporo

           Mitsukoshi Department Store, Sapporo

2011   Contemporary Kogei Art Fair, Tokyo

          Touching Stone Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

 

Group Exhibitions  numerous

 

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

2011   Contemporary Kogei Art Fair Invitational, Tokyo