[TOKO CLUB EVENTS] A gallery talk was held for the Yura Rieko exhibition.

"Rieko Yura Exhibition Gallery Talk" was held on March 23, 2024.
We would like to introduce some of the contents of the gallery talk.

Rieko Yura Exhibition Gallery Talk

From the ball to the corner

Tsukamoto : The last time Yura-san's exhibition was held at the Pottery Warehouse was in 2011. Her expression has changed a bit since then.
Yura's works have changed from spheres to angles.

Yura : That's right. The first image came to me when I found a beautifully shaped stone on the riverbank, and when I picked it up it had a nice, round indentation, and somewhere in my head I had a feeling that this was interesting.

In the early days, the beads were turned on a potter's wheel and then joined together.
The reason why Sphere couldn't continue was because there were too many restrictions.
I couldn't connect the dots, so I couldn't create the shape I wanted, which is why I couldn't continue with the sphere.
I continued making spheres, but they didn't reach the point of becoming a work of art, and I continued making works in parallel with my Water Fossils series.

At some point, we decided to combine squares instead of spheres, as this would make them lighter and allow for more freedom in shape, which is why we decided to use squares.

Tsukamoto : The work you created at your last exhibition at the Pottery Warehouse was "Water Fossils." How do you make these?

Yura : Technically, making water fossils is easy. You carve out the shape of the vessel on a potter's wheel and then just keep hollowing it out. I was trying to make the hole as big as possible, but I was too aggressive and it ended up breaking (laughs).

The clay is semi-porcelain, not porcelain.
When light shines on the piece, the shadows become part of the piece, and I find it fascinating to see the relationship between the piece itself and the space.

Tsukamoto : The name of the work exhibited at the Nitto Exhibition and Mashiko Ceramic Art Exhibition is Jiyu na Hako.
I think this is a perfect expression of playing with yourself.

Yura : I often get compliments on my name. One of the judges was a foreigner, and he also said it was funny.

Tsukamoto : In your previous exhibitions, the main color was red bengala, but recently you have been using blue cobalt blue.

Yura : I've always loved gosu. When I mixed and tested my own gosu, the color came out close to what I imagined for my work, so I started using it to create my pieces. Of course, if the color of the glaze doesn't come out well, it will change the image of the piece.

Tsukamoto : How much of your work do you imagine when you're creating it?

Yura : I generally have an image in mind, but I think about it with my hands as I touch the clay. As I make it, I go through a series of trials and tribulations. I generally have an image in mind, but it never turns out exactly as I imagined.

Tsukamoto : Is the painting the same?

Yura : This is especially true when painting. I sketch before I start, but if I don't paint a number of times in a row, my hands don't get used to it and it's hard to get a good look.
There are a lot of plants, but I used to do a lot of sketching, so I put those images into the pottery.

Tsukamoto : You majored in Japanese painting at Kyoto University of Arts. What made you switch to pottery?

Yura : I've loved pottery and textiles since I was a student, but I majored in Japanese painting, so I did Japanese painting.
However, I often visited pottery classes and found them fascinating. When I moved to Tsukuba, the University of Tsukuba held an open pottery course, and I became hooked on pottery.
I naturally had restrictions in my head that Japanese paintings had to be like this, but with pottery there are no restrictions, which is what I enjoy.


Yura : In this exhibition, I have placed paintings written in ink on Japanese paper against a background of pottery.
I hope you enjoy the space as a work of art. I didn't draw it with the intention of displaying it; I first expanded on the image with the picture, and then arranged the pottery there. It's a simple picture, but I had trouble getting the ink to come out well, so I rewrote it many times.

Tsukamoto : So it's an expression of the installation. It looks like a shadow.

Yura : I had that in mind too. If the ink color is too dark it's not interesting at all. If it's too strong, the pottery gets overpowered, so it was difficult to get the intensity right.
I was conscious of the shadows of electricity and ink.

Tsukamoto : Generally, there are many artists who have trained at pottery studios, so I wouldn't say that Yura's work is restrictive, but I do feel that there is a lot of freedom in the way she creates her works.
I think that people who start out with pottery are less likely to give up on their expression because they think it is not possible with pottery.
There are cases where knowledge can get in the way.

I look forward to creating more works in the future.

Yura
thank you very much.

Rieko Yura Pottery History

Graduated from Kyoto City University of Arts as a Japanese painter
1993 Women's Ceramic Art Exhibition, Mainichi Broadcasting Award
1995: Mainichi Newspaper Award at the Women's Ceramic Art Exhibition
1999 Asahi Ceramic Art Exhibition Encouragement Award
2000 Mashiko Ceramic Art Exhibition Jury Special Award
2000-2004 Lecturer at the University of Tsukuba Extension Course
2001 Japanese Ceramic Art Exhibition Asahi Ceramic Art Exhibition
2002 Mashiko Ceramic Art Exhibition
2003 Japanese Ceramic Art Exhibition
2004 Mashiko Ceramic Art Exhibition: Independent Ceramic Forms (Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum)
2005 Japanese Ceramic Art Exhibition
2006 The Destination of Form (Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum)
2008 Change Color (Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum)
2009 Repetitive Forms (Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum)
2010: Kasama Ware: Roots and Development (Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum)
2011 9th International Ceramics Exhibition Mino
2017 Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition, Excellence Award, 11th International Ceramics Exhibition Mino, Special Jury Award, Kikuchi Biennale Exhibition
2019 Japanese Ceramic Art Exhibition
2021 Kasama Ceramic Art Grand Prize Exhibition 12th International Ceramics Exhibition
2022 Joyo Art and Culture Center Exhibition