A new work by Kako Katsumi enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Haikakuto and dating from this year. It is 19.6 x 12 x 35.5 cm (8 x 5 x 14 inches) and is in perfect condition, directly from the artist. The surface is intensely tactile. The form is wrapped in a continuous, spiraling cadence with an emphasis on rhythm and continuity of decoration. The vessel rises as a tapering, ovoid column, its profile slightly asymmetrical, leaning with a quiet forward momentum. Near the apex, a wound-like void interrupts the surface. Unlike a conventional mouth, it is not centered or resolved. Encircling the body, bands of iron-rich red and pale clay alternate in measured sequence, their edges defined by fine, incised lines. These stripes do not sit passively on the surface; they wrap and turn with the volume, emphasizing its curvature while also subtly distorting it. The pattern is both regular and alive—slight variations in width, spacing, and alignment prevent it from becoming mechanical.
Kako Katsumi was born in Kyoto in 1965, and graduated the ceramics department of Saga Art College in 1986. He was selected for the Japan Fine Arts Exhibition, the Asahi Ceramic Art Exhibition and the Kyoten held at the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art in 1988, followed in 1989 by the National Ceramic Art Exhibition and Mino International Ceramics Exhibition. He has since exhibited and or been selected/ awarded many times at these prestigious events. He established his kiln in Nishiwaki City in 1991. In 1994 he worked in Melbourne. Australia, and would create a second kiln in 2001. In 2004 he would be awarded the Prize of Excellence at the Tanabe Museum of Art Modern Tea Forms exhibition. In 2005 he established his current kiln in Sasayama, Hyogo prefecture. In 2009 his work was featured at the Kikuchi Biennale Exhibition and the following year was awarded at the 4th Contemporary Tea Bowls Exhibition, and in 2011 was selected for the influential Paramita Ceramic Exhibition. 2013 saw him in New York, and 2014 at the Museum of Ceramic Art in Hyogo (Kobe). Held in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art among others.
