Biography

    1980MA, Kyoto City University of Art
    1977BA, Kyoto City University of Art
    1953Born in Osaka


    Teaching Experience

    2006Kyoto City University of Art, Kinki University, Lecture
    1999-2004Kyoto University of Art and Design, Lecturer
    1989-2000Kyoto Junior College of Art, Lecturer
    1981-1982Kyoto Junior College of Art, Lecturer

    Exhibitions

    2011"Furniture Divas: Recent Work by Contemporary Makers"
    Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA
    2010"Outside the Box: The Art of Wood"
    Holter Museum ofArt, Helena, MT
    2009Works exhibited including "Ema With Masks"
    SOFA New York/Mobilia Gallery
    2005"Springstep and Medford Celebrate Powderhouse Studio Furniture Makers"
    Springstep Gallery, Medford, MA
    2000"Selected Artists in 2000"
    Kyoto City Museum of Art, Kyoto
    "Artist's Chairs - Six Artists from Kansai"
    Kobe Fashion Museum, Kobe
    1998"Selected Artists in 1998"
    Kyoto City Museum of Art, Kyoto
    1997Kyoto Exhibition
    Kyoto City Museum of Art, Kyoto
    1995"100 Chairs in Japan"
    Meitetsu Department Store, Nagoya
    1994"Adventure by Hands"
    Miyagi Prefecture Museum of Art, Sendai, Miyagi
    1993"Expressions from Kyoto"
    Shimogamo Shinto Shrine, Kyoto
    1992"Amusement Wooden Boxes"
    Asahikawa Museum of Art, Asahikawa, Hokkaido

    Collections

    2005Kamm Collection
    2004Kamm Collection
    2003Museum of Art and Design, NY
    Peabody-Essex Museum, Salem, MA

    Kintsugi

    Kintsugi, the art of 'golden joinery', is a way to fix broken pottery that began in Japan around the 15th Century. Urushi is used to attach the broken pieces together. Then gold "Kin" powder is sprinkled on the wet urushi surface. After the urushi dries, the golden repair is polished. Sometimes silver powder, or red or black urushi, is used instead of gold. Unlike Western repairs that restore a broken piece of pottery to the way it was before it was broken, a kintsugi repair changes the feeling of a piece. The piece is no longer the same. A kintsugi repair gives the piece a different "landscape" (Keshiki) that makes the piece more interesting – and that change is what we appreciate.

    Do you have broken pottery? I can repair broken pottery using kintsugi techniques. I may be able to repair a broken urushi piece depending on its condition. Would you like to fix your own broken pottery? I teach a kintsugi class on Tuesday mornings. Please see my blog. If you have questions about urushi or kintsugi please email me.


      How to Kintsugi

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    0. Broken piece of pottery.

    1. Make Mugi-urushi by mixing shitaji-urushi with mochi powder.

    2. Put Mugi-urushi on the edges of the broken pieces and put them together carefully.

    3. Make Kokuso-urushi with Mugi-urushi and wood powder.
    Use Kokuso-rushi to fill in gaps and missing chips.

    4. Make Sabi-urushi by mixing shitaji-urushi with clay.
    Use Sabi-urushi to smooth gaps.

    5. After it dries, polish Sabi-urushi with water-proof paper to make the surface smooth.

    6. Paint Black-urushi on the Sabi-urushi.

    7. After it dries, paint Bengara-urushi on top of Black-urushi.

    8. Before Bengara-urushi dries, put gold powder on the Bengara-urushi with a brush.

    9. After it dries, paint thin Suri-urushi over the gold to make gold stable.

    10. Next, polish gold with mixture of oil and clay on cotton, to make gold shine.

    11. Finished!