Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner1/24Outside of the Shiro Oni pottery studio; I was standing among broken pots from past firings.
Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner2/24Coiled and hand-built pots, mugs, tea bowls, and pitchers drying. There are also found objects from Koshigoe beach and calligraphy brushes from Korea on the wall.
Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner3/24I was coiling a shallow bowl in the final days before bisque firing.
Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner4/24Trimming the foot of a thrown tea bowl.
Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner5/24The program director, Kjell Hahn, loads the kiln as I hand him the remaining pots waiting on shelves outside.
Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner6/24Kjell loading the kiln. He’s been inside for the entire day, building shelves and placing pots onto them from back to front. The pots in the back get hit less intensely by the flames and particles, and the pots in the front get more ash built up on them but are more susceptible to the wildness of the fire.
Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner7/24Another morning’s breakfast of potato and onion hash, fried egg, avocado, persimmon, clementine, and a never-ending supply of green tea.
Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner8/24The fire growing in the kiln’s belly. The temperature is almost high enough to activate the glaze, which glows white when it reaches temperatures around 1,000 degrees Celsius.
Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner9/24Our neighbor in Onishi brought us a bucket of persimmons from his tree and peeled a steady supply of perfectly cut fruit for the kiln stokers.
Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner10/24Fuyuko Kobori’s father is a 16th-generation grand tea master and head of the Kobori Enshu tea school. She has been trained in the chanoyu ceremony since she was 6 years old and does modern interpretations in untraditional locations and structures, often built by her partner and collaborator, Kjell Hahn, as a performance piece. During the firing, she performed the ceremony in a mountain shrine built by a previous resident, Moch Hahn. The shrine is built mainly of wood and cloth, some of which I worked with him to dye.
Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner11/24Fuyuko sets up the shrine for the tea ceremony. Next to her are bowls made by Kjell, John Dix, Akira Neba Yonebayashi, and Chiaki Horikoshi. In front of her are the ladle, kettle, water vessel, whisk, tea caddy, teaspoon, sweets, and a vase of picked flowers.
Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner12/24Fuyuko readies Chiaki Horikoshi’s bowl by warming it with hot water before whisking the tea. This photo was taken by fellow resident Laura Pöld.
Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner13/24Me with an armful of wood going into the kiln’s belly. Photo by director Kjell Hahn.
Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner14/24In the kiln with Kjell, unloading.
Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner15/24After a long day of unloading, organizing, admiring one another’s pieces, and being completely in awe of what was produced, we hike back down.
Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner16/24Vase. Shigaraki clay, unglazed.
Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner17/24Pedestals, both of mixed clay bodies in matte black and white.
Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner18/24Vase, shino glazed porcelain pedestal, and unglazed plates.
Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner19/24Vessel. Porcelain with shino glaze.
Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner20/24Vase. Mixed clay bodies, shino glaze.
Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner21/24Tea bowl. Hagi clay, Estonian pink glaze.
Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner22/24Mug. Mixed clay bodies, gray blue glaze.
Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner23/24Tea bowl. Shigaraki clay, shino glaze.
Photographed by Simone Bodmer-Turner24/24Tea bowls. Hagi clay, shino glaze, cobalt.
