93. Kohyama Yasuhisa  神山易久

Yasuhisa Kohyama was born in Shigaraki in 1936 and was fifteen years old when he joined Oumi Kagaku Touki, one of the largest ceramic factories in Shigaraki. He later took classes at a vocational school for ceramics, where he learned basic techniques and was able to become an apprentice to Sakuzo Hineno, an important pioneer of ceramic design. In the postwar era, when mass production was the norm, Hineno advocated modern designs but made with attention to craftsmanship and individuality of the maker and the visibility of the various regions. It is an approach that Yasuhisa Kohyama who has a deep interest in the past would always remain true to. He has studied historical Japanese ceramics and admires the power of the ancient Shigaraki, Jomon and Yayoi ceramics of Japan. His work seeks to capture this legacy but in his own way. It is a synthesis of ancient and modern, and in line with the method propagated by his teacher Sakuzo Hineno, based on great craftsmanship and artisanship and with his own individual input. Early in his career, he worked closely with designers and architects, assisting avant-garde artist Taro Okamoto on a tile installation for the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo in 1964. Later, he would go his own way and played an important role in reviving the use of the traditional Japanese "anagama" wood oven. Yasuhisa Kohyama's works are asymmetrically shaped and, because of the clay, which incorporates nuggets of feldspar, are given a rough surface that is characteristic of him , He does not use glazes, but the wood ash and placement in the kiln create an extraordinary range of colors and hues. Yasuhisa Kohyama has received much recognition for his extraordinary work which has been widely exhibited in Japan and abroad and is included in numerous museum collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Art and Design in New York and the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Gardiner Museum of Art in Toronto.

The Wind - Dai Ichi Arts Gallery