Continuing with the month's stories within the theme Great Potters , let's learn about the story of Toshiko Takaezu .
She produced rounded and closed ceramic forms that broke with the tradition of clay as a medium for functional objects.
Come with me to learn this story!
Early Years
Toshiko Takaezu was born in Hawaii to Japanese immigrants. As a child, she helped her father and uncle grow watercress and raise bees . She only learned to speak English in the first grade.
At the age of nine, her family moved to Maui, where her elementary school encouraged students to read, recite poetry and draw. It was there that she had her first exposure to the arts.
Interest in art
She later worked at the Hawaii Potter's Guild. There, she not only developed her technical skills, but also met Lieutenant Carl Massa. He gave her sculpture lessons and inspired her to read about art, participate in cultural events, and open herself up to a creative life.
Some time later, she decided to go to the Continent to further her studies in Art, at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan .
Influences
In Michigan, he met Maija Grotell, an acclaimed Finnish artist with whom she began taking classes and later became her assistant.
Grotell instilled in her the importance of individuality, self-discovery and self-expression as an artist, principles that Takaezu carried throughout her life's work.
It was at this time that Takaezu embraced the notion of ceramic pieces as works of art meant to be viewed rather than used.
Trip to Japan
With the intention of connecting with her Eastern heritage, in 1955, the artist traveled through Japan for eight months.
This proved to be another formative experience for her artistic development, as she was impressed by both traditional and avant-garde ceramic techniques and aesthetics, meeting eminent artists such as Toyo Kaneshige and Yagi Kazuo, among others.
While there, Takaezu also studied the tea ceremony and Zen Buddhism.
Signature
After the utilitarian vases and pots of her early years, the artist progressively abstracted her forms. The signature for which she became known were the so-called "closed forms" of round and vertical shapes. The result is a sculptural form that can be appreciated strictly for its aesthetic value.
Researcher and writer Ruiko Kato has observed that the "Zen concepts of simplifying to the absolute minimum and perceiving intuitively" are realized in their closed forms and that their non-functionality makes them "spiritual forms."
Nature and Classes
She also made thin ceramic logs inspired by the burned trees she had seen along the Devastation Trail in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, demonstrating her work's connection to nature.
In addition to her artistic career, Takaezu taught for decades, beginning with summer teaching sessions at Cranbrook (1954–56). Later, at Grotell's invitation, Takaezu held positions at the University of Wisconsin, Madison (1954–55), the Cleveland Institute of Art (1955–64), and Princeton University (1967–92). In her teaching, she always sought to encourage her students to discover themselves.
The story comes to an end
Toshiko Takaezu died at the age of 88 in 2011.
“You are not an artist simply because you paint, sculpt, or make pots that cannot be used. An artist is a poet in their own right. And when an artist produces a good piece, that work has mystery, an unspoken quality; it contains a spirit and is alive. There is a nebulous feeling in the piece that cannot be identified in words. That to me is good work!”
I leave you with a question for reflection: Is art a spiritual language of life; one that dialogues with the mysteries of our existence?