Sei Ishido
Vessels of quiet composure, holding twelve years of craft and an aesthetic drawn from water.
A ceramic artist with formidable command of the wheel, built over twelve years of apprenticeship at a kiln, who works to the theme of water, drawn from the scenery of Lake Biwa. The fresh look of kannyu crazing and a form worked out to the last detail bring a quiet stir of feeling into daily life.
- 作家名
- Sei Ishido
- 活動拠点
- Kyoto
- 仕様・技法
- Clay-bodied ware, crazing glaze.
A word of advice from his high school art teacher sent Sei Ishido into ceramics. He rebuilt his technique from the ground up at a potters' school in Kyoto, then spent twelve years in Shiga Prefecture as the resident wheel craftsman at a Zeze-yaki kiln. He brings a craftsman's precision together with an aesthetic of his own, drawn from water, and makes work that concedes nothing.
Giving form to the scenery of water, with a technique that concedes nothing
At the base of my work are the waterside scenes of Lake Biwa, familiar to me since childhood, and the beauty of water as it changes with the light. Working from the precise technique I built up during my years as a craftsman, I refuse to pass failures off as "character" — I raise the precision instead, and pursue work that moves the person who picks it up.
Fresh kannyu crazing, reflecting the scenery of the waterside
To express the theme of water, he favors crazing glaze, which develops a network of fine cracks. The delicate look of broken ice, and the contrast between inside and outside, create a freshness like water itself.
Formidable command of the wheel, backed by twelve years of apprenticeship
The technique honed in his craftsman years gives forming that holds true to dimension. A deformation technique that accounts for how the clay pulls back in the firing, and throwing stripped of any wasted motion, produce forms with real tautness.
Quality he can stand behind, and care for the environment
Raising his technique so that no failed pieces are produced — no industrial waste — is a sustainable stance he holds to. Glaze concentration and timing are controlled to the second, and only work whose quality genuinely moves him at the moment the kiln opens is sent out.
Sei Ishido: holding the memory of Lake Biwa in a vessel
Twelve years of solid craft, built at kilns in Kyoto and Shiga. Working from that foundation, Sei Ishido makes vessels of a beauty entirely his own. What comes from his hands holds both a clarity that catches you short and a warmth that settles quietly into daily life. We visited his studio to hear about his restless pursuit of the work, and about the water he puts into it.
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