tomomi

Tomomi Kamoshita’s exquisite works of art will be on display at an upcoming exhibition in New York City dedicated to earthquake relief in Japan.

Tomomi Kamoshita (鴨下知美) is a Japanese ceramics artist from Tokyo. She graduated from Joshibi University of Art and Design, the first fine arts institution for women and the oldest private art school in Japan, founded in 1900. While her work typically focuses on colorful tablewares and ornaments, she has recently begun utilizing the traditional technique of kintsugi, which both restores broken pottery using lacquer resin and gold powder and enhances its imperfections as positive attributes.

▼ Artist Tomomi Kamoshita

Kamoshita has lately been spending her time combing the beach for washed-up pieces of broken pottery, which she then mixes and matches with broken pieces from her own collection and joins together using the kintsugi technique to create one-of-a-kind hashi-oki, or chopstick rests. Her work even received an honorable mention at the inaugural 2016 Ronin|Globus Artist-in-Residence Program, and it will soon be on display at the “Contemporary Talents of Japan” exhibition from June 23 through July 30 at the Ronin Gallery in New York City.

▼ A sampling of Kamoshita’s chopstick rests pieced together using kintsugi

It’s not the first time that Kamoshita’s art has been displayed at an event in New York City — her 2014 solo ceramic exhibit “Color of Japan, Color of Harvest” was also featured at the Globus Washitsu venue on Broadway, which houses works associated with cultural and fusion exchanges between Japan and the U.S. But the upcoming “Contemporary Talents of Japan” exhibition serves as a deeply personal endeavor for her and other Japanese artists in the Ronin|Globus Artist-in-Residence Program as the theme for this year is “The Great Wave: Images to support the Japan Earthquake Relief Fund,” intended to present artists’ diverse reactions to the recent earthquakes in Japan and the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. In her own words regarding this project, Kamoshita writes on her official website:

I created my works in the image of the word ‘revive’ in the hope of reconstruction. Since the theme of the exhibition is ‘wave’, I used the broken pieces of ceramic and glasses I picked up on the beach. Having been knocked by waves, those are nicely shaped and beautifully colored.

Sakura [cherry blossom]-color pieces used in the work were taken from my previous work that had ended up broken. No matter what happens, sakura blooms gracefully in Spring. It is a symbol of revive. By uniting those ideas, I decided to make this work.”

▼ The sakura-colored fragments blend together harmoniously with the washed-up shards from the sea.

View this post on Instagram

"Contemporary Talents of Japan" Ronin gallery in New York /June 23rd-July 30th 2016 I’m going to participate in the exhibition supporting the Japan Earthquake Relief Fund. I created my works in the image of the word "revive"in the hope of reconstruction. Since the theme of the exhibition is "wave", I used the broken pieces of ceramic and glasses I picked up on the beach. Having been knocked by waves, those are nicely shaped and beautifully colored. Sakura-color pieces used in the work were taken from my previous work that had ended up broken. No matter what happens, sakura blooms gracefully in Spring. It is a symbol of revive. By uniting those ideas, I decided to make this work. 6/23-7/30にニューヨークのローニンギャラリーで開催される"Contemporary Talents of Japan" に作品出展します。収益の一部が東日本大震災への支援基金となる展覧会です。“よみがえる”をイメージして、浜に流れついた陶片やシーグラスに私の桜色の器の破片を繋ぎ合わせて作品を作りました。波によって淡く色褪せ、角がとれたパーツと、毎年きれいに咲き誇る桜の優しく強い姿に思いを託しました。 #revive #art #exhibition #newyork #japan #kintsugi #seaglass #chopstickrest #cutleryrest #ceramic #ceramics #pottery #陶器 #金継ぎ #箸置き

A post shared by Tomomi Kamoshita / 鴨下知美 (@tomomikamoshita) on

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen kintsugi used in the context of disaster relief. Another craftsman has also been using the technique over the past several years to repair pottery damaged in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and he even plans to journey to Kumamoto to repair personal works broken in the recent earthquake there free of charge.

Follow Kamoshita on her official website, Facebook, or Instagram accounts to watch her progress with the kintsugi technique, and be sure to check out the “Contemporary Talents of Japan” exhibition if you’ll be in New York City this summer.

Exhibition Information
“Contemporary Talents of Japan”
Ronin Gallery
Address: 425 Madison Avenue, 3rd Floor, SE corner of 49th St., New York City, NY 10017
Tel: 212-688-0188
Website

Source: My Modern Met; h/t: Spoon & Tamago
Top image: Instagram/tomomikamoshita (edited by RocketNews24)