Hayashi Yasuo, 87, spent his career championing abstraction and modernization in contemporary Japanese ceramics. He’s still creating pristine, thoughtful works that blur the line between ceramics and architecture. We noticed two new ones through Dai Ichi Arts this week.
Dai Ichi states that today the artist spends most of his time alone, working in his Kyoto studio as he builds his works by hand. He’s been developing his House series throughout his career with works that are both large and small. These two recent works, both titled Small Talk, are smaller. Their glazes were applied by Hayashi blowing them across the forms with his mouth.
Hayashi Yasuo, Small Talk, 2014, 8.6 x 8.2 x 6.7 inches. Signed “Yasuo ’14” on the bottom with a signed wooden box.
Dai Ichi states:
Hayashi San’s skilled hand enabled him to create this softly shaped roof, with its protruding edge and sweetly curving roofline. The base of the house features an iconic Japanese sunrise on one side and an abstract window into an interior room on the other. Even when working at this small scale, the artist never sacrifices quality. Instead, he packs these small works with delightful details.
And of the other:
A companion piece takes the form of a pristine cube, again coil-built for strength and to achieve these sharp corners. On one side you can peek into the corner of a room, where painted forms reflect the shape of the roof. On another side is a tea dust interior, and on another we find a group of abstract lines that bring to mind the raging elements of wind or rain. Finally, the last side is dominated by a large rectangle in brilliant blue, like looking out of a window onto a deep blue sky.
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Hayashi Yasuo, Small Talk, 2014, 10.2 x 6.6 x 5.7 inches. Signed “Yasuo ’14” on the bottom with a signed wooden box. Photographs courtesy of Dai Ichi Arts.
These are breathtaking. Thanks to you at Cfile for your impeccable eye – I always enjoy your selections immensely.