Sculpture, “Wind enclosure” ー加古 勝己 “風郭”

A dynamic sculptural work by Kako Katsumi, dating from 2018, accompanied by a signed wooden placard titled Fūkaku (風郭). Rising from a solid wooden base, the form unfolds as an open, undulating, and asymmetrically balanced continuous line as though shaped by a persistent internal current rather than design. The void it encloses becomes as vital as the clay itself, a charged interior space that shifts with each change in viewpoint.
The surface is left unglazed, revealing the raw vitality of the earthen material. Close inspection reveals a dense, tactile skin—fine tool marks, granular inclusions, and small fissures register the immediacy of the artist’s hand and the resistance of the clay. Unlike glazed works, where transformation occurs through the alchemy of the kiln, here the expression remains grounded in direct contact: carving, cutting, and shaping preserved without mediation. The transition from the textured clay form to the smooth, dark wooden base further heightens this contrast, anchoring the work while allowing the ceramic element to appear almost suspended above it. This sculpture embodies Kako’s exploration of boundary and flow where interior and exterior collapse into one continuous movement, and where form is defined as much by absence as by presence. Measuring 42.6 × 20 × 75 cm (17 x 8 x 30 inches) it is in perfect condition.

Due to size the cost of shipping will be accrued separately.

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.