GIVING FORM TO COLOR: New Work by Sawada Hayato: Solo Exhibition

The long-anticipated international solo debut for artist Sawada Hayato (b. 1978), Giving Form to Color features exciting new works created exclusively for this exhibition. Hailing from Kasama, Ibaraki, just north of Tokyo, Sawada creates ceramic vessels in the tradition of the Kantō region’s most renowned past ceramic masters, Kamoda Shōji and Wada Morihiro. Although Sawada never met either Kamoda or Wada, he shares these seminal figures’ unique approach to the unity of pattern, form, and material, leading some art critics to describe the three artists as forming an exciting new Kantō ceramic lineage.

Sawada’s unique forms—which can be angular and multi-planar or rounded and curvilinear—are further highlighted by the application of boldly contrasting surface patterns, which are themselves richly textured. The process for creating these works is incredibly precise and time-consuming. Sawada hand-builds his ceramic forms before slip-glazing unmasked areas and incising their surfaces. He employs a technique that he calls nama-zōgan, or “raw inlay,” in which he inlays his vessels with black slip prior to bisque firing. He then masks the surface and applies layers of glaze and slip-glaze. Occasionally, he employs an unctuous feldspathic glaze, which develops an organic, crevassed texture when fired. Each vessel requires multiple firings at specifically calibrated temperatures. Once completed, Sawada’s vessels come to life as three-dimensional abstract paintings.

In describing his approach to ceramic art, Sawada uses the language of classical music, another passion of his. Just as musicians bring centuries-old scores to life by infusing the music with their own contemporary sensibilities, Sawada creates ceramics that exude modernity while employing the ancient techniques of hand-building, slip glazing, and inlay, Sawada’s ceramics nevertheless exude modernity. Through the form, pattern, and texture of his ceramic vessels, Sawada seeks to create narrative unity:

Although his father is also a ceramist, Sawada was first inspired to take up the medium of clay out of a desire to make something radically different. He is largely self-trained, having never formally apprenticed or trained in ceramics in a university setting. Still early in his career, Sawada’s work can be found in the collection of the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA in the United States and the Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum in Japan.