Kino Satoshi 木野 智史

Born Kyoto, Japan

Having first created ceramics as a teenager, KINO SATOSHI was given his first museum solo exhibition at the New Taipei City Yingge Ceramic Museum, Taiwan, within ten years. Originally interested in pursuing a career as a stone sculptor, upon entering Kyoto Seika University and encountering the powerful sculptural ceramics of Nishida Jun (1977-2005) in a retrospective exhibition, Kino decided to major in ceramics. Inspired by Nishida's powerful large and dense forms, he initially attempted to follow in that sculptural perspective but soon realized this did not suit his own aesthetic sensibility.

Fascinated by the potential of fired porcelain to become like stone when polished, Kino chose to focus on porcelain. His sculptures resemble long, billowing ribbons of celadon-glazed porcelain. First throwing a spherical band on the wheel, rather than mold-casting, Kino then severs this tapered band into segments. Using the centrifugal force of the wheel, he manually transforms these thin, attenuated, sections into flowing works of art. After drying, he thoroughly sands the entire work prior to bisque firing. Then, before the final firing, he applies translucent bluish-white (seihakuji) glaze with a compressor before firing in a reduction atmosphere. The artist credits his unique process as enabling works to be integrated into the surrounding space, as he is inspired by nature, particularly the phases of the moon.

Selected Public Collections:

Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA
City Council of Marratxi, Spain
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
Fule International Ceramic Art Museum, Xian, China
Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Ibaraki Prefectural Museum of Ceramic Art, Japan
Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art, Japan
Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC
Museum of Ceramic Art, Hyogo, Japan
New Taipei City Yingge Ceramic Museum, Taiwan
Newark Art Museum, NJ
New Orleans Museum of Art, LA
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA
Phoenix Art Museum, AZ

Hands & Earth

Six Perspectives on Japanese Contemporary Ceramics