Ceramic Flower Vase No.1 and No.3 Tsubota Kazuhiro

This flower vase has a distinctive form, shaped through Tsubota Kazuhito’s approach of allowing the clay to guide the making process. The textured surface and natural tones of the clay are enhanced through wood firing in a noborigama, a multi-chambered wood-fired climbing kiln.

Born in 1972 in Iga City, Mie Prefecture, Tsubota Kazuhiro graduated from the Ceramic Art Course at Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music, where he met his wife, Tsubota Aya, who was also studying ceramics. The couple built a noborigama in Nagakute City, Aichi Prefecture and later moved to Iga City in Mie Prefecture to build an anagama, a wood-fired pottery kiln shaped like a tunnel or cave. They now live and work in Takachiho, Miyazaki Prefecture, where they have built another noborigama.

Their work reflects the influence of the places in which they have lived, expressed through the materials they use. These include raw clay from Takachiho, gairome (a high-iron clay) from Tōkai Region, and red and white clay and porcelain from Kyūshū.