in praise of shadows
Following Tanizaki’s essay on aesthetics; ‘In Praise of Shadows’, I explored what beauty resides in the dark. The traditional Japanese house is famous for its murky light, it is the place where shadows rule. The women living there, only existed from the collar up, and the sleeves out, the rest remained hidden in darkness. Women even blackened their teeth, so all attention would go to their faint white face.
This inspired me to ask questions like: How do we invite our thoughts to travel beyond what is visible? Can I use only hands and faces to tell stories in which different layers of meaning are visible?
I kept the visible to a minimum by developing porcelain that is deep black and has the subtle sheen of human skin. For the composition of the installation, I took inspiration from the book: ‘Confessions of a Masked Man’ by Yukio Mishima.
Description: Installation in a traditional Japanese house of hanging hands and heads in black porcelain. In various rooms of the house, a different scene is shown each time. Together, the different scenes form one story.
Artist in Residency 2017:
Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park in Japan.
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Article in KLEI Ceramics Magazine, May-June 2018
KLEIkeramiek_3_2018_Wim_Schermer.pdf