The beauty of Seihakuji
Visual Arts
Description
Description
The term ‘seihakuji’, also known as shadowy blue glaze porcelain, comes from a translucent blue glaze on white porcelain. After the reduction firing technique, it then transformed into a gentle bluish white tone. Seihakuji flourished in the Song dynasty as Qingbai ware, the bluish-white porcelain ware produced in Jingdezhen, China is well known for its lightness and clear colour tone, the enchanted and breathtaking artworks are always compared to Jade.
Meanwhile, celadon refers to a type of ceramic with a transparent green glaze. To achieve this effect, the artist has to apply an
iron-rich liquefied clay slip on the ceramic before firing in the kiln and during the heating process, the iron in the slip will then oxidise, leaving a delicate and lustrous green coating on the piece. The bluish-green shade of celadon is similar to the sky that is cleared up after a storm. Together with black and white porcelain, these three types of ceramic are honoured as ‘three main ceramics in East Asia’.
Japanese people advocate the beauty of simplicity and elegance. While seihakuji and celadon were introduced to Japan in the 20th century, potters were in love with the graceful artworks with smooth surfaces. Under natural lighting, the intertwining of blue and white colours granted a sense of silence in seihakuji. Whilst Celadon presented a clear blue-green colour during the daytime, warm and verdant tone in the nighttime, introducing a very different appealingness in the work.
Touch Ceramics is honoured to invite 6 Japanese ceramic artists to present their works this January, including Masayuki Uraguchi, Satoshi Kino, Peter Hamann, Murata Takuya, Hiroshi Taruta and Koutarou Ikura. Inheriting seihakuji and celadon’s traditional essence and combining the unique aesthetics of the artists, the exhibition showcases a contemporary and fresh vision of the ceramic works. We hope viewers could be spiritually healed with the gentleness and calmness of the artworks during the new year and experience the charm of them from traditional to contemporary.
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