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Updated: Apr 10, 2022

Pottery is one of the oldest human inventions, while contemporary pottery is no longer limited by functionality in traditional concepts, it has become a work of art that can be appreciated. The new generation of ceramic artists express their creativity and aesthetics through shapes, colours and symbols, as well as symbolisation, association and allegory of the visualised forms, to reflect their own rethinking of modern culture.


水元佳代子, 當代藝術, 大館, 展覽, 收藏, 中環, 香港, kayokomizumoto, ceramic, art, contemporaryart, exhibition, central, taikwun, hongkong

In an era of rapid technological advancement, artificial intelligence and virtual networks derived from the infinite imagination of human beings make our lives more convenient, so the famous Japanese ceramic artist Mizumoto Kayoko believed that free thinking and imagination are more indispensable nowadays. Based on the shape of daily life utensils, she boldly adds figurative and decorative elements: eyes, rabbit ears, horns, hearts, and stamens, which depart from the definition of vessels as we understand them, such as eyeballs that extend around like tentacles, and rabbit ears that grow between flowers. The extraordinary shapes of artworks illustrate the surreality mixing with dream and reality, the more mysterious, the more fascinating. In 2021, Mizumoto caught everyone’s eyes at the ‘The Assemblage of Colours, The Assemblage of Paintings Japanese Contemporary Ceramic Painting’ exhibition of Touch Ceramics. In April this year, Touch Ceramics will exhibit Mizumoto’s latest series of surreal artworks - ‘Strange Dream’.



Mizumoto's artworks incorporate a variety of styles, from traditional to modern, reality to fantasy, which can be traced back to her previous life experiences. She was trained in the studios of Kaga Yuzen for eight years and was an apprentice at the studio of Kutani ware, such experiences provided a solid foundation for her traditional painting techniques. Under the practices of traditional techniques in many years, the common flower patterns of Yuzen dyeing, as well as the bright Japanese-style pigments in green, yellow, red, purple and indigo of the classical five colours style (’gosai-de’), have all transformed into the inspiration for her creation. For a period of time, because of her interest in Latin American culture, she travelled to Bolivia, Mexico and other places alone to experience foreign customs, so her artworks are also captivating for their exoticism.



When simplicity is popular nowadays, Mizumoto’s artworks are the opposite, showing her unique aesthetic style. Her artworks are intertwined with various details and protrusions, and they are colourful, such as red, pink, blue, purple, black and gold. The brushstrokes draw reference from shojo (literally meaning ‘young woman’) manga, and the lavish patterns, polka dots, black and white grids, stripes, amaze the audience with strong visual impacts. When I first saw her artworks, I was both surprised and lost in many details, so I could only attempt to understand and interpret her mysterious artworks from the clues one by one .




‘I think "container" and "body" are the same.’ Mizumoto compares the container to the body, pours the soul out of nothingness through processes such as firing and colouring, and expresses the inner emotions through the eccentric forms of the artworks. Therefore, each piece seems to be alive, with familiar elements linked to our own experiences and perceptions.


The big rabbit ears that sprout from the utensils can hear all sounds and are a symbol of sensibility. It associates our appreciation for beauty. Eyeballs signify the awareness of ‘seeing’. While appreciating the artwork, because the eyes of the artwork are also looking directly at me, I strangely had a feeling of ‘being watched’. Simply looking directly at it already makes people nervous, maybe this is also the creator's intention. Usually, we may not be able to deal with all the complicated and turbulent affairs in our lives, or even want to run away from them. However, the calm eyes of Mizumoto's artworks are like pioneers, they teach us to regain the courage to face the things in front of us.



‘Beauty, for me, is the powerful screams, the clumsy impulses, and the purity that shines in the depths of the grotesque.’ Eccentricity, especially the elusive changes in adolescence, is the theme of Mizumoto’s creation, and it is also the worldview of shojo manga that accompanies many of us to grow up. The horns that grow out of the container are impulse and power, like the strong feelings of adolescence. The paintings in the style of shojo manga are reminiscent of childhood memories, the pure pursuit for fantasies and dreams, also a longing for growing up.



With Mizumoto’s creative interpretation, her artworks have established a new and unique style in a tribute to the traditional craftsmanship. The artworks contain the artist's understanding of growth and real life, and become a bridge of communication between artists and audience, linking their imaginations and experiences. Transformed from ordinary containers to whimsical works of art, the exaggerated decoration embodies the enthusiastic emotions of the creator. The strong contrasts of ordinariness and extraordinariness overlap in the eccentric ceramic artworks, such uniqueness makes people unable to take their eyes away, and is enchanted in the artist's extraordinary fantasy world.


水元佳代子, 當代藝術, 大館, 展覽, 收藏, 中環, 香港, kayokomizumoto, ceramic, art, contemporaryart, exhibition, central, taikwun, hongkong

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中國有一句俗語:「民以食為天。」食物是生命中最基本的需求,當我們滿足了基本的飽腹之欲後,便轉而鑽研食物的色、香、味,務求炮製出讓人心動的美食,滿足我們對生命的要求,也滿足了我們對生活的期許。當我們能有空靜下心來,手中捧着一杯清茶,或是品嚐着人間的美味時,大概是從基本需要,升華到自我實現需求的層次。品嚐的不再只是眼前的食物,而是在忙碌過後的寧靜與安逸。而陶瓷食具,襯托著食物的顏色與味道,正正豐富了我們飲食的樂趣與生活的情趣。




人類早在遠古時代,便已經開始製作陶器,作為他們的飲食容器。在滿足基本的需要後,便開始研究飲食容器的美學,以顯示他們的社會地位、權力,甚至精神文明。諸如清代乾隆皇帝以黃釉和珐瑯彩製作出極盡侈華的陶瓷食具,展現出皇族至高無上的權力;日本的茶道,以陶瓷茶道具配合茶道,將人們的日常生活提升到對精神意識的追求。


人們的一生中有着許多追求,我們對自己外表的打扮尤為重視,從外表便能看出一個人外在的身分地位與生活品味。在英文中有一句諺語:「人如其食。 We are what we eat.」。同樣地,我們所用的生活用品也代表了我們內在的修為。在日常生活中,我們往往忘記了從細節上,讓自己過得更加快樂。在我們的日常的飲食用品中,陶瓷的温柔往往能動人心弦,在一片柔和的觸感裏,讓我們能沉靜下來,單純地感受食物的味道,享受陶瓷用品為我們帶來心靈上的滿足。


這次《請客》一展,便是從陶瓷食具中,為大家帶來飲食的另一種體驗,好好感受生活上的小細節,在享受安寧繾綣的日子裏,為自己的日常生活增添趣味。


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To celebrate the founding of Touch Gallery, we are honored to present Kurt Chan as our first highlight of the month, showcasing his Western paintings and ink works “Fa-mular”.

Prof. Kurt, Chan Yuk Keung was graduated from the Department of Fine Arts, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He then obtained his M.F.A. from the Cranbrook Academy of Art (鶴溪藝術學院), Michigan, U.S.A. Professor Chan joined The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1989, teaching studio courses and supervising M.F.A. students. He has retired since 2016. He is now working as the deputy director of Hong Kong Art School.



In this exhibition, he explores the energies and momentums of flowers, likening nature to human life. Just as the cycle of human life, flowers grow, bloom and wither. The beauty of flowers falls somewhere within the liminal state of imagination and reality. Though flower formula is just a standardized construct for flowers, our imagination upon flowers still blooms wild. Kurt Chan’s “Fa-Mular” presents the polymorphous essence of flowers with his signature blend of Chinese and Western art. The outlines and patches of flowers are portrayed between abstract and concrete expressions. Points, lines and surfaces combines, infiltrates and interacts, allowing viewers to feel not only the interconnection of lines and surfaces, but also of the action of painting and strokes. Leveraging his paintbrushes, Chan touches, writes and molds flowers otherwise.




Chan’s earlier works explore the possibilities of using different materials and media. Recently, he returns back into paintings as a media. Extending his experience in experimenting different materials to the canvas, Chan discovers the process of painting is akin to a recurring action of mistake correction — an artwork is emerged from countless mistakes, reflection and refinements.



With Chan’s rich experience across multiple media, he combines Chinese and Western art. While we see the strokes of Chinese art in a Western painting, the avant-garde approach is also manifested in his ink works. The momentum of the paintings varies from vigour to gentleness, entwining reality and imagination, visualizing the vivid breath of lives. No matter in macro and micro visions, Chan’s work unfurls the heartbeats of flowers.



為慶祝Touch Gallery的成立,我們十分榮幸邀請到陳育強先生成為藝廊首位展出藝術家,展出他近年西畫及最新水墨作品 - 花程式。


陳育強畢業於香港中文大學藝術系,及後於美國密玆根州鶴溪藝術學院取得藝術碩士學位,一九八九年始於香港中文大學藝術系任教藝術課程,並指導碩士生。他於2016年退休,現為香港藝術學院的署理院長。

在這次展覽,陳育強探索花與人生的聯繫與互動。「花程式」系列作品中,陳氏把花卉的變幻無常,化成中、西藝術連結的表像。陳氏將花的缐狀和塊狀,時而抽象,時而具像地表達;點、線、面三者結合,穿插和互動,讓觀者感受到缐條、面塊、繪畫動作和筆觸之間的關係,他以畫筆去觸摸、書寫及雕塑她。



陳氏早年作品擅長探索物料之間的可能性,近年重回畫作媒介。他將以往實驗性處理物料的經驗伸延到平面畫作上,發現繪畫過程就好像一個不停糾正錯誤的動作;作品在無數的犯錯、思考、改正中產生。融合他多年遊走不同媒介的經驗,將中、西藝術滙成一體,彷彿在西畫中看到水墨的筆法,同時水墨畫亦打破固有的傳統畫法。畫作節奏時快時慢,虛實交錯;生物的呼吸起伏都在視覺上呈現。無論是全然或微觀下的花,都牽動着俏然悸動的心跳。


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