monolith (2022) by Chisato Yasui

Yasui wields myriad ceramic styles, working effectively in both porcelain and stoneware, glazed and pigmented clay, as well as carving, coiling, and hand-building. Perhaps her ability to create using so many kinds of techniques and materials is simply out of necessity, in that each style represents a different emotion and motive for creating. In this light, the Monolith series first made its international debut at ART 021, and the work for TEFAF is the first time the series is being shown in Europe. Built by hand-coiling from stoneware clay, the base body is ceramic and fired at 1250 Celsius through an oxidation firing. After the base body is completed, Yasui applies three different glazes to the body to create new textures and colours, and then soaks Japanese paper in ink and wax, and applies the coloured, waxed paper throughout the entirety of her body in primitive patterns that express her state of mind. There is something innately poignant about her patterns, almost as if Yasui is painting relics of a lost and ancient civilisation upon her clay surfaces, calling to mind primordial memories in clay that have been lost yet not forgotten.