"Murrini and Lace" 3/26 -3/28 : Fujiko & Ushio Duo Exhibition

Fujiko Enami & Ushio Konishi
- Murrini and Lace -
Italian Traditional Technique with Japanese Aesthetic
March 26^th Thu.  – March 28^th Sat.
Artist Reception : March 26^th Thu. 6pm-8pm

We are pleased to announce that Sara Japanese Pottery will present Duo Exhibition of Fujiko Enami and Ushio Konishi.

After working in Massachusetts at the Chatham Glass Company, they returned to Japan in 1998 to Miura Point to establish the Ushio Glass Studio.
Ever since, they have worked in the traditional Venetian glass technique of Murrini and Lace to create an oeuvre of original pieces. Familiar with Tea Ceremony, the Japan-esque subtleties are radiant in their world of glass.
The glass beads are made and lined up to resemble a geometric structure, yet the flowing nature of the colors is Murrini glass. The clear and colored twists of glass are assembled to create Lace glass. The multiple dimensions expressed by the thinness of the glass will move you and take your breath away.
 

マサチューセッツのChatham glass companyで働いていた2人が日本に帰り、1998年三浦岬に潮工房を立ち上げて以来、LaceとMurriniと言う伝統的なvenetian glassの手法を用いて、数々のオリジナル作品を制作してきた。
茶道にも精通する2人の、日本人ならではの繊細で美しいガラスの世界。
ビーズを作り、並べ、その組み合わせによって構築される幾何学的、かつ、流れるような色使いのムリーニガラス。透明ガラスと色ガラスを捻って出来る模様を重ね合わせたレースガラス。薄作りの作品の中に感じさせる立体感には息を飲まずにはいられない。


The event is their first exhibition at Sara Japanese Pottery. Artist, Ushio Konishi, is visiting from Japan, and happy to greet you during the exhibition.

* Open Hour *
March 26th, Thu. 10 am - 8 pm   Artist Reception  6pm - 8pm
March 27th, Fri.   10 pm - 7 pm
March 28th, Sat.  12 pm - 6 pm

Fujiko Enami
Your world becomes as if looking through a kaleidoscope. Taking a combination of tiny pieces, Fujiko's works are characteristic of Venetian Glass, particularly, Murrini glass. Similar to making Kintaro-Ame, a Japanese candy where long stems of candy are cut with the same pattern at each intersection, the Murrini technique is a complex technique, taking long stems of glass and cutting them into 5mm pieces. Then, after arranging 200-2000 glass pieces, they are fired together and shaped using a glass blowing rod.
"When I was a child, I loved watching my mother embroider. She would divide and beautifully arrange the many embroidery threads; it was very comforting to me. With the Murrini technique, a lot of time is spent sitting and working on a delicate arrangement, which to me is a peaceful time spent on doing something and being somewhere I am supposed to be."

Ushio Konishi
As if lace was made from glass, Ushio's Lace Glass technique beautifully folds glass to create delicate designs reminiscent of lace patterns. This glass blowing technique used to make Lace Glass is one of Venetian glass's most famous techniques. It is such an advanced technique that it was once known only within the most expert of Venetian glass blowers and its technique was held secret to others.
"How to combine the colors, or how to express it in a way that will make it the most beautiful is what Lace glass is about. In other words, how to use the colors and make them transparent so that the glass is both brilliant and understated; the glass then has beauty and charm. When I look at the primitive and labor intensive process, I want to make glass out of it. To understand what glass can become is, perhaps, what I am searching for as a craftsman."