BROKEN

BROKEN

Twelve 22cm plates paying homage to the Japanese art of Kintsugi.

Exhibited at The Open Door Gallery, Berkhamsted

8 – 18th May 2018

This technique creates works of art, each with its own story and beauty, thanks to the pattern of cracks formed when the object broke – much like the wounds that leave different marks on each of us.

The Kintsugi technique suggests many things about the disposable nature of modern life and points to the need to find ways to cope with traumatic events in a positive way, learn from negative experiences, take the best from them and convince ourselves that it is exactly these experiences that make each person precious.

“My first Kintsugi Bowl”.

KINTSUGI

The Art of Precious Scars

These plates pay homage to the Japanese art of Kintsugi.  They illustrate a traditional oriental technique that mends broken pottery using precious metals, saving discarded items and enhancing the inimitable pattern created by the disaster of destruction.  Once repaired the new pieces acquire a unique and attractive aesthetic. The unwanted fragments have now become the design.

This technique creates works of art, each with its own story and beauty, thanks to the pattern of cracks formed when the object broke – much like the wounds that leave different marks on each of us. The Kintsugi technique suggests many things about the disposable nature of modern life and points to the need to find ways to cope with traumatic events in a positive way, learn from    negative experiences, take the best from them and convince ourselves that it is exactly these experiences that make each person precious.

It is thought that the Kintsugi technique was invented around the fifteenth century, when Ashikaga Yoshimasa, after breaking his favourite tea cup, sent it to China to get it repaired. At that time the objects were repaired with   unsightly and impractical metal ligatures. It seemed that the cup was not  repairable but its owner asked a Japanese craftsman to repair it. The    craftsperson was  surprised at the shogun’s steadfastness so decided to   transform the cup into a jewel by filling its cracks with lacquered resin and powdered gold.

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