OTANI WORKSHOP

A seemingly naive spirit infuses the objects and characters of Otani Workshop’s world. There is a directness about the forms and figurest hat he creates, manifesting from clay, recycled wood, metal or paint, transformed by his touch.

At first glance, they promise kawaii, the quality of an obstinate cuteness ,especially in his round-cheeked children and baby animals. Then look more closely. Gaze into their eyes—patches of brushstrokes forming circles on the canvas or holes poked into ceramics. Sometimes they radiate youthful joy, sometimes they evoke a worldly sadness. They feel.

As an artist, Otani has often said that he aims to make work that have in them something “spirit-like.” In Japan’s Shinto religion, something is ‘yorishiro’ when it has the ability to be occupied by a supernatural deity. Though Otani does not think of his art as directly related toShintoism, his works are infused with the desire that they embody meaning, by existing and in dialogue with the viewer.

‘It is my hope that I can exchange some emotions with viewers through my works.’–Otani Workshop

In this show, Otani presents paintings, sculptures and ceramic vessels. Pottery is fundamental to his practice, and where in many ways his career began. There is a primal feeling in his ceramic figures.They appear to be cute creatures, but then they bear the marks of how they came into being.

The process is making pottery involves alchemy. Humble mud clay gets mixed until it becomes a certain consistency. Then it might rest for a bit as a lump. With the touch of an artist, it begins its journey of transcendence. Often slowly, the lump is kneaded into a form. Otani doesn’t always know what it will become, but in his physical interaction with the clay, eventually a form reveals itself.

He builds his sculptures by hand, patiently adding layers on layers until a shape takes place. Sometimes it becomes a boy, sometimes it becomes a girl, sometimes it is half a horse or a whole dinosaur. Otani works and reworks the clay until he is satisfied, the surface bearing the marks of his fingers and tools. Sometimes they are covered with coloured glaze, other times he keeps them bare to the biscuit. Then they go into a kiln, where further magic happens. You never really completely know what you get after a firing.

“I think I want to make each single touch to establish itself both figuratively and as abstraction.”–Otani Workshop

In recent years, Otani has started showing his paintings as well. These are often lively pictures in pastel hues. Going from one medium to another has informed his art, and he attributes having more colours in his ceramics as coming from his making more paintings in recent years.

Otani was born in the neighbourhood of Shigaraki in Shiga Prefecture, apart of Japan known for its rural charm and a town famous for pottery.He attended art school in Okinawa, where he focused on sculptures, mostly in clay.

Otani’s works begin in his studio, located in a disused tile factory on the edge of Awajishima, where he toils, mostly by himself. The remote island is wedged between Honshu and Shikoku, in the Seto Inland Sea.

The building is simple but it has all he needs. On his wood shelves he has many books about art, some about his heroes like Giacometti. In the studio, he has bright natural light, high ceilings, space for his kilns ,a place to make art. Here he breathes life into his work. – Alexandra Seno