For more information please click info@studio-pots.com		Harlequin Gallery
Aki Moriuchi The first solo exhibition of ceramics from her new workshop. 3rd to 24th October 2004
No.35 SOLD & No.36 SOLD Faceted Bottles. Height: Both are 21cm.						No.51 Grooved Pot. Height: 8cm. Diameter: 12cm. SOLD
No.70 Small Stone Seed. Height: 9cm. SOLD				No.63 Porcelain Small Stone Seed. Height: 12cm. SOLD
No.2 Grooved Inkpa. Height: 53cm.				No.26 Round Pot. Height: 17cm. Diameter: 20cm. SOLD
No.41 Small Green Grooved Pot Height: 9cm. Diameter: 11cm. SOLD					No.44 Small Handled Bowl. Height: 9cm. Diameter: 16cm.
No.15 Moon Catcher Length: 58cm.
When I took over the Harlequin Gallery in 1999 Aki Moriuchi was one of the potters whose work I wished to exhibit. At that time she was having a sabbatical from ceramics and has subsequently moved from North London to Cornwall, where she is now based. Therefore it has taken longer than anticipated to organise this show but we've made it at last! The exhibition, her first solo outing in two years, will consist of the multi-glazed sculptural pieces that she has become famous for, together with a selection of small items of tableware. It will be interesting to see if Aki's move from suburbia to West Penwith with its unforgiving landscape has had any significant effect on her work. Maybe it is just a matter of taking ideas to their natural environment. Although born in Tokyo, Aki has lived in this country since 1971 and only became interested in making ceramics some years after settling here. Initially she concentrated on producing tableware, which was naturally based on traditional Japanese items, which she had used all of her life. Subsequently the work developed away from the practical to encompass the sculptural work most of us are now familiar with. This work has many layers of glazes applied and is usually fired more than once to stoneware temperature. Following this Aki will sandblast the surface; her own speeded up weathering, a process that fascinates her, until satisfied with the outcome. Like all good sculpture Aki's perception of space is key to the work's success but I think that because it always has function as a reference point it is more accessible than some more abstract work. The sculptor Isamu Noguchi stated "the attraction of ceramics lies partly in its contradictions. It is both difficult and easy with an element beyond our control." When reviewing Aki's showcase at the Crafts Council, held in conjunction with their Bernard Leach exhibition in 1998 Emmanuel Cooper quoted Noguchi's observation. He then went on to allude to the contradictions within Aki's work saying that it combined "rough and gritty with the smooth and sensual, and the elegant with the simple, the work inviting caress yet at the same time seeming to rebuff". Cooper concluded by saying, "they are objects which both celebrate and question, within and beyond our control." I believe this to be a very apt description of Aki's work by a fellow potter and one, which I know Aki has always appreciated. The Private View proved to be the best selling solo artist's PV in the Harlequin Gallery's history.
Click Previous to see details of the Previous Exhibition.
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