Jar c. 2009

This ‘Jar’ was made by Tsujimura Shirō, who was born in Japan in 1947. It’s an earthenware vessel glazed in earthy tones. The glaze is speckled, crackled, and pooled in rivulets. Imagine Shirō building this piece, the feel of the cool clay between his fingers, the focused intention as he coaxes it into shape. I can imagine him in his studio, working intuitively, the clay responding to each touch. What might he have been thinking as he worked? Maybe he wasn’t thinking at all. The act of creation is a dialogue, and each mark builds upon the last, like a visual conversation. This circle makes me think of a full moon. And the drips of glaze? They remind me of rivulets of sweat after a day of hard work. There’s a conversation happening between artists across time. Shirō probably looked at a lot of different pots and jars. And I bet he wasn’t afraid to fail, to experiment, to see what would happen if he pushed the material to its limit. That’s how new forms emerge, through trial and error. The conversation just keeps going.