Chawan (tea bowl)
茶 碗
When it came to making chawan, I tried to let go of my usual rules. The process was all about learning to trust my instincts, embrace imperfection and give myself a chance to re-explore the idea of balance — something I’ve had to re-learn over these two years of living in Japan during the pandemic.
I have a variety of chawan — some are purely handbuilt, while others are both thrown and handbuilt. In a departure from the sleek, symmetrical, silky-smooth pieces in The Perfect Imbalance collection, they are also deliberately asymmetrical, and the bottom has been left unsanded to showcase a beautiful roughness that contrasts with the smooth porcelain body. Each piece has its own characteristic.
In Japan, ceramics are often stored in signed wooden boxes, known as 'Tomobako’, not only for its protection, but also displays provenance of that piece of work & the maker.
#SustainableAlternative
My Tomobako is wrapped with Furoshiki, which is a square-shaped cloth that is traditionally used for carrying goods and gift wrapping in Japan since the Nara period (710-784). I love the idea of reuse and especially now in the modern age, with the invention of plastic, the use of Furoshiki have declined hugely.
It’s an element I would like to introduce to my works, as a sustainable alternative to wrapping paper and encourage people to get creative and reuse this piece of cloth.
My ceramic work draws inspiration from TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) which put emphasise on balancing our bodies’ energies and consuming food according to the different seasonal points. I am choosing to use natural materials that found in different seasons to dye my fabrics.
This creative play of using natural dyes has triggered me to then develop mono no aware collection.
Feel free to reach out if you’re interested in commissioning a bespoke chawan!