寒川義雄 Yoshio Kangawa is a ceramic artist who lives in Hiroshima city and uses clay from around the area and his wood kiln to craft ceramic utensils and art. With over 25 years of experience as a ceramist, Mr. Kangawa’s works include earthenware and semi-porcelain. Mr. Kangawa also operates Cafe De Hanae with his wife Mayumi Kangawa. The café, which serves sweets and coffee to guests, also function as a gallery featuring works from Mr. Kangawa and other craftsmen.
Yoshio Kangawa was a relatively less known name among the participating artists at the 日本生活器物展 Living Crafts Beside Life exhibition held in Taipei in November 2018. That being said, it was my opinion that without the fame attached to a name such as 三谷龍二 Ryuji Mitani, his audience during the exhibition could relax to observe, appreciate and personally associate with Mr. Kangawa’s work first, before rationalizing its value to make a purchase decision. Furthermore, the selection of works and prices were relatively more favourable without the economics related to a “name” brand. It was for those reasons I managed to acquire a range of utensils I liked from Mr. Kangawa’s collection made exclusively for the exhibition.
With an intense passion for old potteries which becomes more and more beautiful with continuous usage over a long period of time, Mr. Kangawa naturally selects materials to create potteries with a rustic charm. Before he starts to create his ceramic works, Mr. Kangawa likes to jog on the mountain trails near his home. My guess is this habit helps him get mentally focused and puts nature front and center in his mind before he begins to create.
The beauty of nature, inevitably, is communicated through a sense of calm and wonder from his works. In my opinion, there is no subjectivity in Mr. Kangawa’s work. He simply allows his work to speak for itself. Hence, the audience is immediately drawn immediately to the “life” and unique character that each of his work takes on as a result of the chemistry between clay, glaze, wood and fire.
The impression I had of Mr. Kangawa’s personality was similar to the understated, approachable, genuine and energetic quality of his work. At his tea gathering session, Mr. Kangawa greeted his guests by saying 您好nín hǎo. That immediately put a smile on everyone’s face. Then, he asked us to close our eyes and take a deep breath in and a deep breath out. Again, inhale and exhale. And again, inhale and exhale. We were then asked to open our eyes as he began to prepare tea using his ceramic utensils for us.
Through the help of an interpreter, we understood that Mr. Kangawa recently started to take lessons from teacher Xiao Man to learn about the art of Chinese tea. Although he did not elaborate, I suppose his intention was to prepare for his first tea gathering event in Taiwan and to develop an understanding of the factors that contribute to the effectiveness of tea utensils from the user’s point of view. His eagerness to understand and improve the user experience from his utensils is also evident from the cooking and flower arrangement lessons he takes regularly in Japan.
Mr. Kangawa quoted 柳宗悦 Yanagi Muneyoshi (1889 – 1961) philosopher and founder of the 民芸mingei (folk craft) movement in Japan, to emphasize the beauty of craft can only be revealed through using it and the utility it offers. In other words, the beauty of craft comes from the usefulness of an object not its appearance. As such, care and attention are required from both the maker to create with usefulness in mind, and the user to actually use a piece of craftwork to realize its utility and the beauty associated with it.
Mr. Kangawa’s reminder of the association between utility and beauty of craft was particularly relevant to the audience in evaluating their approach in assessing a piece of craft. His reminder was also pertinent to an exhibition which emphasized the relationship that craft has with everyday living, and aspired to encourage people to find beauty in their lives through discovering the joy of using objects that were hand made by individuals, who care about improving the quality of our lives.