Asia Now 2023

Beginning with the southern Japanese island of Kyushu are a group of Takatori ceramics. The works are the product of the current head of the Takatori family and his son, originally Korean potters who have lived in Kyushu for 14 generations. The ceramics are made at the wheel using local clay and natural glazes and fired in a Norobigama wood fired kiln.

Also from Kyushu, where her family traded in ceramics, is London-based ceramicist Kaori Tatebayashi. Her hand made flowers are modelled directly from nature and show an incredible skill to translate nature into clay, rendering how things look but also how they feel.

A series of silk and wool tapestries by Sussy Cazalet adorn the walls of the booth, produced by local weavers in Rajasthan and using only organic materials and dyes. Sussy’s designs are strongly influenced by Japan aesthetics and compositions and are woven together with her interest in modernism and Scandinavian design.

Two Korean Moon Jars by contemporary ceramicist Lee Yong Soon will also be on display. Moon Jars’ distinctive organic presence and character is characterised by the fact that they are made from two separate parts, thus the shape is never perfect. Lee Yong Soon’s bright white glaze is made with pine ash from the mountain trees, and has a soft, luminescent glow made in the tradition of the royal potters of the 18th century.

Finally, the fluid glass sculptures by Japanese artist Ritsue Mishima introduce yet another exciting medium into the selection. Mishima’s organic volumes are produced by master glass-smiths in Murano and combine Japanese sensibilities with traditional Venetian glass-making techniques. Her transparent sculptures play with light and reflect the colours of their surroundings.