Ruri&Eiko Exhibition "Microsccopic Craft from KAGA 2014" 10/24 -10/26

Ruri Takeuchi & Eiko Tanaka Duo Exhibition
- Microscopic Craft from KAGA 2014 –
October 24th Fri. - 26th Sun.
Opening Reception October 24th Fri. 6pm-8pm

It will be our fifth year presenting the Kaga Kutani Exhibition with young artists that generate new traditional crafts. Ruri Takeuchi, the Kutaniware porcelain painting artist, and Eiko Tanaka, wood turning and lacquer artist, have returned with greater force than ever before.

Ruri Takeuchi works with new colors, and paints animals with vivid expressions on pieces she creates by hand. Eiko Tanaka turns her lacquerware pieces, producing shapes from the sensation and feeling of the immediate moment.
With the future of traditional Kaga craft at the hands of these two craftswomen, they have created new artwork imaging “the present”. It will be something worthwhile to see.

This will be the eighth in a series of event to celebrate Sara Japanese Pottery’s 25th years anniversary. Please join us for the Opening Reception on Friday, October 24th, from 6-8pm. The exhibition will be open for three days, during which the artists, Ruri and Eiko, will be present.

* Open Hour *
October 24th, Fri.  10 am - 8 pm   Artist Reception  6pm - 8pm
October 25th, Sat. 12 pm - 6 pm
October 26th, Sun. 12 pm - 6 pm

*Their past exhibition at Sara, please click the below.
Exhibition 2010 - Next Generation of Porcelain Paintings -
Exhibition 2011 - The way of Tea Ceremony of KAGA -
Exhibition 2012 - Traditional Art and Craft from KAGA -
Ruri&Eiko Duo Exhibition 2013 - Microscopic Craft from KAGA -

Ruri Takeuchi is an artist who paints exquisitely fine motifs on porcelain pieces - boxes, incense holders, or small figurines.
A native of Nara prefecture, in Japan, Ruri studied at Kyoto's School of Traditional Arts and Crafts.  Upon graduation, she apprenticed under Chousa Yamamoto, a renown porcelain artist, and became entranced by traditional Kaga crafts and Kutani porcelain painting.  She would spend four years learning and developing her techniques in porcelain painting.

In 2010, Sara Japanese Pottery held a group exhibition, "KAGAKUTANI in NY 2010," where she premiered her vivid designs as an independent artist, not as a learner. "Microscopic Craft from KAGA 2014" will be Ruri's fifth time showing in New York.

“With each individual work, including the title, I condense a single universe into that piece.  The motifs are mostly inspired by nature, and I find it most satisfying when someone is able to look at my work and experience a soft breeze, hear the voice of a bird, or recreate a feeling from some story.”
-Ruri Takeuchi

Her works are as she describes them.  She encapsulates a single scene from nature into a design with lush green leaves surrounding a marten or rabbit, or an elegant expression of a bird with glamorous feathers.
Her brushstrokes, the point tapered to a single hair, paint thin and wispy lines.  It is with her steady hand and delicate brush that she draws the outline and applies the color to fill the design, and which compels her precise and beautiful craft.

On a horizontal lathe, Eiko Tanaka mounts a piece of wood.  As the lathe turns, she uses her sharpened utensils to carefully carve out a light and delicate form.  From a traditional form of artistry, her exquisite skill and confidence comes from experience and passion; she listens and reacts to the wood while shaping its surfaces.
She creates a perfect curve only by the sensation in her fingertip when her self-made tools come into contact with the quickly spinning wood.
The wood she uses, such as Black Persimmon tree, is scarce.  It is preserved for over 20 years meticulously treated and dried, waiting for the perfect moment to be handled.  Oftentimes, the apprentice will inherit this wood from their mentor - it is simultaneously a moment of burden and of great responsibility.
Eiko's refined techniques are guided by the beauty of the wood grain, which radiates from beneath the layer of lacquer.  Every work, though contemporary, is every bit intertwined with its history.

Take the piece into your hand, and you are grasping the voice of the wood.