Existing comment:
Soaring Voices: Recent Ceramics by Women of Japan:
"Women have always been involved in the production of ceramics in Japan. The work of their hands survives in countless fired clay objects made over the course of thousands of years, but with few exceptions their names have not been known. What is new is the emergence of women as 'ceramic artists' -- possessing the full authority and responsibility to decide what they will make, to execute their products, and to market them under their own name. This important transformation introduces a new range of sensibilities to Japan's contemporary ceramics."
-- Excerpt from exhibition catalogue essay Louise Allison Cort, Curator of Ceramics, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Soaring Voices presents the rich and innovative ceramic culture of Japan through the exquisite works of 25 female artist. The exhibition highlights these women's superlative creativity in a field traditionally governed by men.
The ceramics presented in Soaring Voices offer contemporary interpretations of a traditional art form through a range of motifs that are inspired by the natural world: plants, shells, mountains, rivers, and the play of light and shadow. Other sources of inspiration pay tribute to Japanese culture, such as the dance movements in Noh Theater and kimono patterns of the Edo period. A social commentary runs throughout the works, whether is it beauty defined or an exploration between East and West.
Soaring Voices was developed by and debuted at the Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art at the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park and hus-10 Inc, Tokyo, Japan. The show was exhibited throughout Japan before traveling to the Musee National de Ceramique, Sevres, France. The exhibition's North American tour is organized by International Arts & Artists, Washington DC, and is generously supported in part by the E Rhodes & Leona B Carpenter Foundation and the S&R Foundation. |