Noritaka Yamamoto’s pottery has a unique texture that evokes the energy of nature. His attitude of openly accepting the accidental nature of the clay’s fermentation and the way fire runs through it, which is beyond the reach of human knowledge, is a one-of-a-kind expression that attracts the viewer.
Meeting and Learning with Yachimun
In Okinawa, pottery is called “yachimun. Noritaka Yamamoto, a native of Ise-Shima in Mie Prefecture, first encountered yachimun at the Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts, where he learned the traditional technique. As a student, he was young and rebellious, but “I enjoyed the fact that when I got clay and fired it myself, it didn’t follow the textbook,” and he became passionate about creating objects and other expressive activities.
After graduating from college, he entered the studio of Jisei Omine, one of Okinawa’s leading ceramic artists, and trained there for seven years. Working in a studio where practicality and functional beauty as a vessel are emphasized, Yamamoto gained practical skills and a new perspective on the balance between usability and expression.
Struggles with Self-identity
It has been eight years since he became independent and set up his workshop in the seaside village of Yomitan. In the beginning, there was a time when he was conflicted about his own creations. He says, “Even though I wanted to express myself, when I tried to make a piece of pottery, it would be the same as what my body remembered from Omine Studio. What was that? Was this what I wanted to make? Where was I when I was making objects freely? It took me about three years to get out of that state.
The fun of serious competition
Yamamoto says, “Once soil is burned, it cannot be restored. Therefore, we have a responsibility to the soil,” he says. And that responsibility, he says, is “interesting. He also finds the pressure he feels when firing his work in the communal climbing kiln “interesting. If I fail, all the work I have done for a month or two will be lost,” he says. But that makes it all the more exciting when it’s finished. I really enjoy the feeling of being in earnest and being tense. During my apprenticeship, my master took responsibility for me, but after I became independent, it was my own responsibility, so I started to think about what was going on in the kiln. I started to really think about what was going on in the kiln.
Acceptance
There are two main lines of pottery produced by Mr. Yamamoto. One is simple and rustic vessels such as “yakishime,” which is formed from a sheet of clay called tatara and fired without glaze, and “kohiki,” which is fired only with white decorative clay and a transparent glaze. The other is creative objects made primarily from Okinawan clay. Although the directions are different, the rich expression and texture of the clay covered with the energy of fire can be felt in both of them.
Nature as it is, as it should be.
The kiln used in the studio is a kerosene kiln, which has a powerful fire close to the kiln and is “relatively more flexible than a gas kiln” in terms of firing methods. In this kiln, he is experimenting with a technique called carbonizing firing, which involves sealing the clay from the southern main island of Okinawa, called kucha, in a pot filled with charcoal powder, and then smoking it.
Kucha is sea mud and probably contains a lot of organic matter, so it ferments. When baked in a pot filled with incense powder, it expands like a loaf of bread, which is very interesting,” says Yamamoto. When you hold the baked product in your hand, despite its lava-like appearance, it is as light as a pumice stone and floats on water.
When fired in this way, the clay moves just a little, and something beyond human imagination is created. This kind of shape can never be created by human beings. I used to be the type of person who wanted to make things the way I wanted them to be, but once I saw the power of nature, I just had to accept it.
In fact, creating works using Kucha became a turning point for Yamamoto.
Once I came to accept that yes, this is fine, this is cool,” he says, ”it became much easier to make things.
Beauty as it is
To “accept things as they are” means to make the most of the energy of earth and fire. Yamamoto’s works are filled with accidental beauty and the breath of nature, which is uncontrollable by human beings.
Yamamoto says, “It is the vessels that sell the most, but the first time I had one of these kucha pieces placed in a gallery, it sold well. That made me very happy.
It is up to the individual to decide how to use the vessels. There is no right or wrong answer. Nowadays, famous restaurants such as Noma in Kyoto, a pop-up restaurant in Copenhagen, which is known for being the hardest restaurant in the world to get a reservation for, visit to purchase Yamamoto’s unique ceramic works.
As a creator, I want to go on the offensive.
At the root of Mr. Yamamoto’s philosophy is the belief that “human beings are no match for nature. In the process of ceramic art, once the work leaves the hands of humans after molding, it enjoys a dialogue with forces beyond human knowledge, from which it creates unknown expressions. I don’t want to touch it as much as possible, and I think it would be better not to touch it, but I keep repeating a serious game of “What would happen if I did it this way? I don’t want to touch it as much as possible, and I think it would be better if I didn’t touch it,” he says.
Clay, glaze, and firing methods have all been pioneered by our predecessors through experimentation,” he says. So I don’t feel like I am doing something new. While enjoying his work without being self-conscious, Yamamoto will continue his aggressive approach to pottery making, saying, “I want to see something I have never seen before when I open the kiln.
