Hand twisted form and drawn painting
The young potter Hayato Sawada greeted us in a dark red parka and green pants. Sawada’s works are decorated with inlays and painted lines and they impress us with the shadows on the surface of the work. They are formed by hand twisting and display a unique warm atmosphere overall. ”I like something that stretches upwards.” He said as he showed us a tall vase. As much as the form, Sawada is very particular about the ”painting” that goes on his work. Normally when you use inlays in pottery, you flatten the surface, but instead, he makes the surface uneven and gives a three-dimensional effect to the work.
He changes the composition of the clay he uses to change to base color, so that there will be a faint gradation effect when it comes out of the oven. Even a slight difference of the base color makes a big difference in the impression of the work.
Born to a potter’s family
Sawada’s father was a potter. But that did not make him like pottery. In fact quite the opposite. He says he never even thought of becoming a potter. He vaguely imagined after graduating high school like everyone else, to go to a regular university, and maybe become an office worker. But when he was in school, he was told to do something that you can only do now. That’s when he thought of pottery. So he started helping his father. And it was more fun than he ever thought! That’s how his life as a potter began.
A unique, self taught view of the world
So what did he learn from his father? He taught himself. He says he never received instruction from his father. He borrowed a corner of the workshop and taught pottery to himself.
In fact his father uses a potter’s wheel. His style is hand twisting. ”So I can only work by hand twisting. My father uses the wheel all the time, so I worked on my own pace, and made creations using only my fingers. On the other hand, my father can’t do hand twisting.” There is a Japanese saying that says ”a shop‐boy near a temple will recite the scriptures untaught”. Sawada learned what he could by watching his father, studied what he could, and created his own vision of the world that he reflects in his work.
Sawada constantly takes new challenges in his work. Right now he is working on creating hand twisted plates. According to him plates using his hand twisting techniques come out with a tender look you don’t get with other techniques like the ”tatara” technique. He is a young potter who searches for himself to create his own world. I wonder what his future works will be like.
