90.  Hayashi Kaku  林 香君

Hayashi Kaku was born in Taiwan in 1953 and studied at Tokyo University of the Arts, where she was taught by Fujimoto Yoshimichi Nōdō and Tamura Kōichi, both Living National Treasures, among others. Hayashi Kaku's work is extremely powerful and physically demanding to achieve. She looks for ways to bend the clay to her will in a time-consuming process of kneading and shaping until an expression emerges that matches what she had envisioned. They are not complex forms, but they are very dynamic and expressive, with curved and undulating surfaces accented by linear patterns and covered with highly contrasting glazes in gradations of iron red or yellow and metallic. For her work, she thematically explores the possibilities of clay and ceramics. She has spent years exploring the flexibility of clay, capturing it in a dynamic series of works. She has also created a series inspired by the spiritually significant Kegon waterfall and its surroundings in Nikko near her home and studio in Tochigi Prefecture, and explores in her sculptures both the variable and immobile forces always present in nature. She was also a professor for many years at Bunsei University in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, for which she established the ceramics program. With her research team, she developed a new firing technique, which was later patented. This innovation with Kan-taro, a volcanic glass mineral added to the clay can significantly shorten the natural drying time and reduces the risk of explosions during cookie firing. Many leading ceramic artists now use it in their work, and it has become an indispensable material for those in the field.
Hayashi Kaku has received much recognition for her work and research and is among one of the most prominent women ceramists in Japan. She has participated in many exhibitions, and received honorable commissions including a commission for a large multi-panel wall installation at Mibu City Hall in Tochigi Prefecture. Hayashi Kaku's work can be found in the collections of many museums worldwide, including the Hubei Institute of Fine Arts, China, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.