Vase « The Cloud » by Japanese artist Watanabe Nobuo

Born in 1953 in Seto, renowned for its long ceramic tradition, Shigekazu Nagae has established himself as one of the emblematic figures of contemporary abstract porcelain. Raised in a family of potters, he learned traditional ceramic techniques from a young age before transcending them with a resolutely modern approach. A graduate of the Seto ceramics school, he perfected his mastery of Ikomi, a porcelain casting technique, which he reinvented by integrating it into an innovative artistic approach. This vase, circa 1991, bears witness to this constant exploration of the material and aesthetic limits of porcelain. Its fluid form, enhanced by delicate undulations, seems to capture an eternal movement, evoking both the softness and tension of the molten material. These undulating patterns, forming a slight relief on the surface, already announce Nagae's current sculptural research, where forms, freed from all constraints, stretch and curve like waves frozen in time. Nagae's work, although deeply rooted in Japanese tradition, has won international recognition. His pieces are now included in the collections of some of the most prestigious museums in the world, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Musée National de Céramique in Sèvres, and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. In his most recent creations, Nagae continues his quest for the perfect form, transforming porcelain into a living, almost organic material. Each piece, although shaped by the chance of the firing process, is the result of a unique technical mastery and artistic vision, making Shigekazu Nagae an essential pioneer of contemporary ceramic art. Nagae uses casting, a technique traditionally associated with mass production. However, he diverts this process to shape forms, challenging the limits of the technique. As with this vase, his creations begin by casting rectangular pieces in slip, which are then left to dry and undergo an initial firing. The joints are then vitrified by the application of glaze, fusing the pieces into a single entity. He quickly progresses to abstract forms for which he uses the same technique and then suspends the slip sheets in his kiln using...

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