NAKAMURA Takuo – It All Started with “Disconnecting”
The atelier of potter NAKAMURA Takuo (中村 卓夫) is located in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. Having been spared the ravages of World War II, the City of Crafts as it is affectionately known, retains its rich historical ambiance with a plethora of artisan workshops.
It all started with “disconnecting”
Born in Kanazawa, NAKAMURA Takuo was brought up in an old Japanese house in an environment where traditions were close at hand. However, his present home and atelier are very different from the archetypical Japanese traditional home he grew up in.
“About 10 years before being approached by Wedgwood to collaborate on a project*, I found that I could no longer feel ‘reality’ in a house with a tokonoma alcove. I wanted to think and create in a new living space, so I decided to build this studio residence. No tatami mats, no tokonoma alcove. I started to pursue Japanese culture by choosing to disconnect from it.”
However, when he started to live in his new space, he could not help thinking about the space he had left behind – the tokonoma alcove. Reflecting on this, he then found an answer:
A tokonoma is a space designed to exhibit pieces of art, flowers, etc. as a feature of hospitality. The tokonoma itself is a vessel.
NAKAMURA continued:
I started to think that a vessel and an architectural space may well be fundamentally connected. I realised that the role of a vessel is to cut-out and provide a space.
NAKAMURA’s masterpiece series including ‘Vessel not a Vessel’ and ‘Box not a Box’ were created in light of this realisation.
At the same time, NAKAMURA decided to start disconnecting…
… from moulding forms and shapes by hand,
… from creating using traditional Japanese techniques.
Such unique thinking is the source of his being a ceramic artist.
A unique style emerges: Destruction Vs Creation
NAKAMURA comes from a family of prominent ceramic artists. While both of his brothers also work as ceramic artists – their talents recognised at an early age – his father inherited the pottery-master title of NAKAMURA Baizan as the second-generation successor.
Thinking that he could not create like his father and brothers, NAKAMURA almost gave up on becoming a potter… One day, however, he came to realise that although they had been ‘creating’ they had yet to explore the concept of ‘destruction’ in their work.
Rather than moulding shapes by hand, NAKAMURA cuts blocks of clay with wire then drops them. This ‘deconstructs’ the blocks and ‘creates’ free forms. Then, as poured glaze naturally runs over the surface, decorative designs spontaneously appear.
Pieces of ceramic art created via this process may become plates, art sculptures, vases, or anything else that the imagination of the end user conjures up.
“It becomes a collaborative exchange between creator and user. New forms, shapes, and ways to use the crafted piece will be discovered.”
NAKAMURA says that this interaction of ideas is the unique aspect of craft work in Kanazawa.
This collaborative stance is also NAKAMURA’s greatest strength.
“I feel that our role is to provide crafts that inspire users to play with their own personal taste, especially when they are our partners and they keep on changing their preferences and thinking at a rapid pace in that special mood, for that purpose, in that moment.”
With his cheerful and bouncy tone of voice, NAKAMURA radiates with abundant curiosity and endless energy.
Wedgwood to collaborate on a project* … In 2004, NAKAMURA collaborated with Wedgwood to create the art collection “Japanesque” for its 250th anniversary.
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