Leach production potter Kat Wheeler will exhibit a collection of new works made during her 2015 PhD research and development trip to Mashiko, Japan, where Bernard Leach’s friend and colleague Shoji Hamada established his pottery, and ultimately one of the key centres of activity for the Mingei movement, in 1930.
Wheeler is only the third
Leach potter to be sent to work and study in Japan as part of the ongoing
relationship between the Cornish town of St Ives and the pottery town of
Mashiko. As part of the twinning arrangement between the two towns, a regular exchange
of letters between Wheeler and Masako Hamada, Director of the Shoji Hamada Mashiko
Reference Museum, had been established and in January Wheeler was invited to
attend the firing of the newly restored Shoji Hamada kiln that was extensively
damaged in the 2011 Japanese earthquake.
During her ten week stay at the Hamada pottery, Wheeler spent time developing her own practice, working in response to her research on local Japanese processes, glazes and firings. The 200 plus pots she made in the Hamada workshop were then packed and sent to England, but unfortunately much of the work was broken during shipping. Ahead of the exhibition, therefore, Wheeler will be working with an Oxfordbased specialist in the Kintsugi technique, a traditional Japanese method of repairing broken ceramics using lacquer and gold leaf. With pots restored using the Kintsugi method on display, the Pottery will also be organising a series of on-site Kintsugi workshops to accompany the exhibition.
This unique collection of work celebrates the ongoing relationship between St Ives and Mashiko, and between the Leach Pottery and the Hamada family pottery, and its opening will be attended by a group of visiting school children from Mashiko and other accompanying delegates.
Kat Wheeler | A Leach Potter in Japan will be on show in the Old Pottery Workshop
from 23 October to 23 November. For details on Kintsugi workshops please
go to www.leachpottery.com
- ENDS -
The Leach Pottery is managed by the Bernard Leach (St Ives) Trust Ltd, a registered charity founded in 2005 reg. no 1111263. The primary objectives of the trust are to further the development of studio pottery, provide training in the art, craft and making of pottery and to advance the public education of the life and work of Bernard Leach and his circle.
The Leach Pottery’s dedication to providing student and apprentice opportunities and excellence in training has resulted in its selection as one of the UK’s new Craft Trailblazers, a group of key employers who have set the national standards for new government backed craft apprenticeship guidelines.
julia@leachpottery.com / www.leachpottery.com
Fine Art Communications
Mercedes Smith / 07825 270235 / mercedes@fineartcommunications.co.uk
www.fineartcommunications.co.uk
